Akame ga Kill: Plus!
by TheFakeOne
Summary: Young Imperial Soldier Skyrah returns from a trip overseas to find the home she once knew torn apart by war. The few people she once knew have changed for the worse, and a fateful encounter will change her destiny forever.
1. Chapter 1: Kill The Evil

**Akame ga Kill: Plus**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Kill The Evil**

 **1 Year after the Akame ga Kill! Finale...**

Thinking about her surroundings made her head spin, she was so confused. How could only three years of absence let her miss so much? What had happened to make the Empire completely take the wall around them down? Why did the palace look like it had been rebuilt more than once? Where were the guards that used to stalk the streets?

What the hell was going on?

The city around her almost looked like it was brand new, or like it had been shifted around, or something.

Skyrah. That was her name, she came back here to be greeted by Budo after finishing her training overseas, now she didn't even know where the Tavern was she was supposed to meet him at.

Probably the same place she had first met that Ogre guy. That guy was weirdly into her, even though she was only 14 back then. Hopefully he wouldn't be there to see my growth.

Skyrah looked down at herself, hopefully she wouldn't attract too much attention around town. She had on a normal light blue sweater that stretched down almost past her thighs, white gloves, brown leather-like pants and brown boots.

Yeah, she was sticking out like a sore thumb.

Almost everyone passing by looked at her like she was a foreigner, even though she was born in this very city. Clearly nobody here needed a sweater, from the beating sun, nor gloves for the same reason. She felt strangely away from home.

She would head for family, but pretty much the whole family she had was her trainer, Budo.

He practically raised her after the age of 10, before she had been in and out of foster care, but nobody wanted a girl with no limbs.

Skyrah gripped her fists, and shook the gruesome memory out of her head. It was very clear to her that she would never forget that experience, but would grow to accept it as the turning point in her life.

She stepped forward, starting her walk down the way she hoped was to the tavern.

After about twenty minutes, she found what looked like the place she had been told to look for.

The building was just as shitty as she remembered it, and the smell was very familiar.

"Half past 8, he should be there." She mumbled to herself, walking into the tavern.

As she entered, the overwhelming smell of alcohol invaded her nostrils, almost making her want to gag, but she held back and looked around. Budo would be very easy to see, he was probably the largest man on the planet. He was a walking tank.

No Budo.

Skyrah walked up to the bar and took a seat, looking up at the choices of alcohol.

" _What would he drink…?"_ She thought to herself, _"Something strong, right?"_

Hopefully. Because that was what he was getting.

"Bartender?" She asked, prompting him to come to her.

"Yes, miss?"

"Can I have a bottle of the strongest stuff you have?"

The bartender looked confused "The strongest? Are you sure you can handle something like that?"

"I have a close friend coming and we are going to celebrate." She said, smiling at the older man.

He gave a large grin, making his large bear contort with his face. "Coming right up, miss."

The bartender strolled off to get what she asked for and Skyrah leaned back, stretching her arms out, hearing a satisfying pop from her shoulders and back.

Hours passed, and still Budo had not shown up. She was the last customer in the bar, and the bartender had been watching her, quietly finishing his work, and keeping an eye on the young woman. She didn't realize it, but he disappeared into a room behind the bar, making sure she didn't look up as he left.

Skyrah stared at the bottle in front of her, but her mind wandered, thinking about where he could be, and what would stop him from fulfilling his promise.

" _Years from now, when you return, meet me back here. You won't be old enough, but I'll buy you a drink and you can tell me about the adventures you've had."_ Budo's voice echoed in her mind.

The day after he said that, she departed to finish her training overseas.

"Oh, the stories I have to tell…" She whispered to herself.

" **Someone! Help us!** " A scream snapped Skyrah back into reality.

Skyrah immediately looked up, meeting the panicked look of the bartender, who had just returned from the back room.

"What was that?!" Skyrah asked quickly, jumping over the bar and rushing past the bartender, ignoring his shouts as she kicked open the door in her way and stepped inside.

 **Blood.**

So much blood, the smell was so bad she could taste it in her mouth. The wooden floors were stained black with old pools of blood, there were six women huddled in the far left corner, all wearing rags and chains. Five of them gagged while the other seemed to have chewed through her gag, the sides of her mouth raw and bleeding profusely, but not stopping her from screaming.

The girls' eyes widened with horror when they saw the new young woman enter.

" **Run away! Fucking run!** " The ungagged woman yelled at Skyrah.

Skyrah's eyes widened and her pupils shrank as she noticed the new smell. It was foreign to her, but she knew it.

Sex. It was the smell of sex, and by what she saw in front of her, she knew what these women were being used for.

Her mind focused on the sudden sound behind her. Without hesitation, she clenched her fist and whipped around, smashing the bartender across the jaw with her fist, rocketing him into the wall and knocking three of his teeth out.

"What the hell is this, you bastard?!" Skyrah yelled at the man, hitting him again and cracking the wall behind his head, effectively breaking his nose with the punch.

"Please, I-"

"Please?! You think I'm going to go easy on you?!" She swung again with her left fist, then again with her right, sending his head back through the wall. "You think anyone of these girls deserved this?!" Again and again she hit him, breaking bones in his head and making blood spew from his nose and drain out of his ears.

She continued to savagely pummel him, not caring to listen to anything around her. His face was mashed, and his blood covered her upper body and face.

Skyrah was suddenly pulled away from behind. The grip on the back of her neck was strong, and felt impossible to get away from.

"Calm down, kiddo." A voice said, the voice of her captor.

Skyrah took quick breaths, her eyes still fixated on the monster in front of her.

She was turned to face her captor, a warm smile greeted her.

Leone let go of the back of the unknown girl's neck and held her in a bear hug, keeping her arms down as she struggled against own strength.

"He's dead, it's over." Leone said.

The girl stopped struggling, and grew quiet.

Leone held the girl more loosely, and the younger girl pulled a little bit away, looking up into her eyes.

"I'm Leone, don't worry, you're safe." Leone said.

The girl clenched her teeth together and tears welled up in her eyes. She gripped Leone and cried into her chest.

Akame studied the body of their target, he was completely dead. They had been tasked to kill him, because of the underground human trafficking he was apart of, but it looked like somebody had beat them to it.

"Akame, we're taking her with us." Leone said, her voice serious.

"It's just a normal girl, Leone, she-"

Akame was grabbed by the top of her head and turned to face the body of the man that had been killed. His face had been turned into mincemeat, his skull had been completely crushed.

"Do you think a normal girl can do that much damage with her bare hands?" Leone asked.

Akame looked back at Leone, then to the girl, and nodded. "Fine, let's go."

 _ **The Next Day…**_

Leone silently studied the girl that lay asleep in her bed, her skin was lightly tanned, her hair was a dirt brown. Her body was extremely fit and toned, it had been trained non-stop to reach this level of fitness.

Then there was the most peculiar part about her, her limbs.

"I can't tell what they're made out of, Leone." Najenda said. "Some kind of metal, but it's almost like it's copied her growth, they don't look like they've ever been changed."

Najenda pointed to where the armor and skin seemed to attach, just under the girl's shoulders and hips.

"No scarring, or any sign of connection." Leone admired, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat.

All four of the girl's limbs had been replaced by metal ones, they looked practically brand new.

Najenda ran her nail down the metal, showing Leone how prone it was to scratching.

"I believe these limbs are an Imperial Arms." The Boss said. "There isn't any other answer for this craftsmanship."

"Bring in Tatsumi, he learned some basic smithing, didn't he?" Leone asked.

"I'll get him." Najenda said, getting up to fetch Tatsumi.

Leone looked back at the sleeping girl, wondering just who she was, and why she had never made an appearance before, if she did have an Imperial Arms.

"Just what is your story, kid?" Leone wondered aloud.

Tatsumi appeared in the doorway about a minute later, followed by a very annoyed Mine.

"Tatsumi, can you look at her arms for us?" Leone asked.

"Najenda said they might be an Imperial Arms, is that true?" He returned her question with one of his own.

"And if it is an Imperial Arms, why didn't we hear anything about her a year ago?" Mine asked.

"You're asking the wrong person, I know just as much as you do." Leone frowned, looking at her two comrades.

Tatsumi spent the next few minutes admiring the arms and legs of the young girl.

"These are amazing, they are perfectly designed for her." He said after a few minutes of silence. "Can you imagine if Seryu had gotten ahold of these?"

Mine scoffed. "The little witch would have been even more trouble, especially if they are as strong as you say."

"Won't even scratch." Leone said, "Even after what she did to the Trafficker."

Tatsumi raised an eyebrow, "You said she completely crushed his skull, isn't that a little bit exaggerated?"

"I wish, the girl made hamburger meat of his head." Leone replied, "It seems that his antics set her off, because what she did scared her more than us."

Leone remembered the girl almost puking after looking back at what she did, but instead she fainted in her arms and was carried back to the Hideout while asleep. It was at the hideout, where they had properly unclothed her when they noticed her metal appendages.

The young girl moved slowly in the bed, her metallic fingers gripped the blanket, and her legs started to move as she awoke. When her eyes opened, she looked around, her shimmering emerald eyes locking onto each person in the room before blinking.

Her eyes clearly were seeing around her, but she gave no reaction to her unknown surroundings. She eventually stopped on Leone, cleared her throat, and held her hand out.

"Leone, right?" She asked, looking the assassin in the face. "My name is Skyrah."

"Skyrah? Are you a foreigner?" Mine asked.

Skyrah looked over at Mine and studied her before answering. "Not technically, but my parents were."

Leone wore a huge grin. "So kid, we've all been wondering, your arms and legs, how'd you get ahold of something like that?" She asked.

"They were a gift, after I lost my limbs." She said, tapping her fingers together. "My teacher gave them to me, Imperial Arms _Loputon Voima: Endless Strength_." Skyrah explained without hesitation, much to Night Raid's confusion.

"So the Boss was right..." Leone said, putting her hand underneath her chin. "Kind of lucky for you they had an Imperial Arms of this, huh? Attachable limbs."

"I wish it had been that easy." Skyrah said with a chuckle.

"What do you mean?" Tatsumi asked, narrowing his eyes.

Skyrah lost her smile and looked down at her arms. "They grow with my own growth, almost like it is its own organism." She explained, "I had to drink the blood of an ancient steel golem, causing me to be sick for weeks, but it grew my arms and legs back, so it was worth every second."

All present members of Night Raid stared with wide eyes.

"Anyways, you mentioned something about a boss, can I speak to them?" Skyrah asked, looking at Leone.

Minutes later, Skyrah and Leone appeared in the center room where Najenda was.

"Ah, you're finally awake." Najenda said, standing up from her chair and holding her hand out. "My name is Najenda, the Boss of this organization." She said as they shook hands.

"Skyrah. Sorry if I don't know this branch of the Military, I've only arrived back in the Empire yesterday." The younger girl said, shaking Najenda's prosthetic arm with her own.

Najenda narrowed her eyes. "Back? How long ago did you leave the Empire?"

Skyrah thought about it for a moment. "Oh, about three years ago. Why?"

"Why did you leave in the first place?" Najenda didn't answer, she needed to know more about this girl before she was told about Night Raid.

Skyrah raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. "Great General Budo, my teacher, sent me overseas to finish my training."

Leone, who was in the middle of drinking, spat out her drink in surprise.

"Budo was your teacher?" Najenda asked, trying not to show her shock.

"He was training me to become a General like him and Esdeath." She said. "They acted like my parents a lot of the time, but Esdeath was hardly ever there, so I only got to train under her for about a year."

A year of training under Esdeath, and even more under Budo. Who was this girl?

"The Prime Minister and the King are both dead, the Empire fell around a year ago." Akame came from another room where she had apparently been listening, sword drawn. "Budo was killed and Esdeath is close to the same."

Skyrah narrowed her eyes, confused at Akame's sudden advance at her.

"You're joking, right?" Skyrah said, but not seeing a hint of humor on Akame's face. "There's no way."

Najenda stepped toward Skyrah, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I know you must have been young, but you need to understand that the Empire was a bad place filled with worse people." Najenda said, "Esdeath and Budo were both two of those people."

Skyrah smacked Najenda's hand away, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't believe you, you haven't shown me any proof!"

"Do you remember that man you killed yesterday?" Akame asked, sheathing her sword. "He was involved in a human trafficking ring, the same one Budo was in."

"Both Esdeath and Budo have tried to kill us countless times just because we dared to expose them for who they really were." Leone piped in, watching the girl's movement, making sure she wasn't going to attack.

Skyrah dropped to her knees, punching the ground.

"The reason you didn't see Esdeath very much is probably due to the thousands of innocent people she has slaughtered." Najenda said. "We all used to be a part of the Empire's forces too, but we defected due to seeing the darkness that was hidden from everyone."

"If what you're saying is true, then show me." Skyrah said. "There must be something you can physically show me."

Akame looked up at Najenda, and she nodded.

"We'll show you Esdeath."


	2. Chapter 2: Kill The Ice Queen

**Chapter 2**

 **Kill The Ice Queen**

It was only them two, Najenda and Skyrah out in the woods. Not many words had been spoken in the few hours they had walked, so both were very aware of how eerily quiet the deep woods were, no birds chirped, no animals moved in the brush, and no wind blew. Everything was still. Skyrah had the suspicion that they were being followed, but was reminded by Najenda that not a soul would follow them, Night Raid was specifically ordered to stay at the base.

But did that really mean someone else couldn't be following them? It was very possible, and could very well be happening now. But Skyrah decided to trust Najenda, she was older and had much more experienced.

"She's close." Najenda said after a few more minutes.

"How can you tell?" Skyrah asked, looking around for the woman she met years before.

Najenda exhaled loudly, drawing Skyrah's attention to the steam she created from her breath.

Skyrah pulled her sweater off, revealing a lightly armored sports bra. She immediately felt the change in temperature from when they had left.

"Was it really necessary to blindfold me as we left your base?" The now less-clothed girl asked.

"It'd kind of defeat the purpose of a 'Secret Base', if you knew where it was, don't you think?" Najenda chuckled, slowing down her stride.

Skyrah sighed, "I guess you're right." She replied.

The air suddenly became freezing cold.

"What is the meaning of this, Najenda?" A voice asked.

The voice was easily recognizable, it was Esdeath.

Directly in front of the two, Esdeath stepped out from behind a tree, along with five others.

"I mean no harm, it is just me and her." Najenda said. "She said she knew you, so I wanted to give her back to you."

"What?!" Skyrah exclaimed, "I thought you came out here so I could talk to her!"

Esdeath was suddenly right in front of Skyrah, looking down at her face with piercing eyes.

"Skyrah?" Esdeath questioned, her eyes widened.

"Yeah, it's me."

Esdeath immediately embraced Skyrah, holding her tight against her cold body. She held the young girl with such passion, it reminded Najenda about the stories Tatsumi told about the few days he had spent with her.

"I'll be off." Najenda said, turning around and beginning to walk away.

"Kill her." Esdeath said softly, looking over to the five others that accompanied her.

"What?" Skyrah pulled back from Esdeath.

Esdeath kept her close, locking eyes with the young girl.

"She is an enemy to the Empire, Skyrah, she would have done the same thing to you." She said in a soft voice, smiling down to her.

Skyrah heard the first hit, and ripped herself away from Esdeath, turning around to see a white haired man smash his fist into Najenda's stomach, causing her to fall to the ground in pain, where the man jumped on top of her, continuing to hit her in the ribs.

"Don't look." Esdeath grabbed Skyrah from behind, covering her eyes with her hand, and grabbing her around the waist with her ice arm, holding her in place.

Najenda screamed, and seconds later a sickening crack echoed through the woods, followed by another scream, and another crack.

"Let go of me!" Skyrah yelled, elbowing Esdeath in the stomach and sending her backwards.

Skyrah saw the man still atop Najenda, blood on his fists from her newly broken ribs.

"Stop it!" Skyrah yelled, "She's not even fighting back!"

It was true, Najenda seemed to have stopped even shouting, only a muffled moan came out of her mouth, yet the man did not stop.

"Enough!"

Skyrah took off towards the man, her boots flying off from the sudden speed.

Right as she got close enough, she used her sudden momentum to lean into an uppercut, hitting dead on his nose and sending her target upwards with a trail of blood following him.

She locked eyes with the man while he was still in the air, jumping up and grabbing him by the back of his head, smashing his head back into the floor as they landed.

Najenda looked up at her savior, releasing a large, bloody grin.

"Get out of here." Skyrah said, lifting her up and hearing another rib snap.

Najenda winced, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"I can't walk, kid." Najenda said.

Esdeath released an angry shout. "What are you doing, Skyrah?!" She shouted. "That woman is the enemy!"

"Even if she is your enemy, have you no mercy?!" Skyrah backlashed, clenching her fist at Esdeath.

"You think this is any time for mercy?!" Esdeath shouted. "You are still too naive!"

"Maybe I am, but at least I won't kill someone who went out of their way to return something to you." Skyrah said, seeing the white-haired man struggle back to his feet, pulling a blade from under his robes.

Skyrah finally got a good look at the guy. His white hair almost completely masked his face, where his eyes were blindfolded, and a large grin seemed to be stuck to his face.

"So sexy!" He yelled, ripping off his robes to reveal an extremely built body. "Finally a girl that can fight, I'll keep you as my plaything!"

Skyrah narrowed her eyes. "Beat me first, if you win I'll let you have whatever you want."

"This bitch wants me! I know it!" He yelled.

"Sacher, wait!" Esdeath shouted.

The man, 'Sacher' charged Skyrah with his blade out.

"Loputon Voima: 150 percent!" Skyrah shouted, smashing her fists together, causing a cloud of hot steam to come pouring from her arms and legs.

Both Esdeath and Najenda became very interested in the technique that had been used.

It had been awhile since she had to power her Imperial Arms over its normal state, but this timing was just too impeccable.

"What the hell?" Sacher growled, licking his lips as his target vanished in the steam.

"Stay down this time!" Skyrah yelled, leaping from the cloud of steam, connecting her fist with Sacher's face, sending him rolling across the floor of the forest into the trunk of a large tree.

Sacher was out cold, it had seemed that his blood was still flowing though, judging from the bulge in his pants.

Esdeath let out a yell in frustration. "Kill Najenda, and bring me the girl alive!" She shouted, disappearing back into the woods.

Najenda suddenly felt herself picked up, and whisked away back into the woods.

Skyrah was in a dead sprint back through the woods, carrying Najenda bridal style, staring forward with intense focus.

"They're following us, Najenda said, looking back over her carrier's shoulder.

"Look ahead." Skyrah said, her mouth splitting into a grin and her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. "They wont catch us."

It was clear to the leader of Night Raid now that the kid who was now running with her aimlessly through the woods was, in fact, on her side.

"Mine's going to be pissed at me." Najenda mumbled to herself.

"Huh?" Skyrah asked, looking back down at Najenda.

"Nothing, don't worry."

Skyrah watched as Najenda slowly closed her eyes, a soft smile on her face.

Her wounds weren't fatal, so Skyrah let her rest as she ran back in the way she thought the hideout would be.

With a little help from Najenda, Skyrah got back to Night Raid's secret base. Akame and Tatsumi stood in wait, both standing upon sight of their boss being carried by the girl with metal limbs. Blood covered the chest of Najenda, and Skyrah looked perfectly fine, running with a big smile on her face.

Within seconds, Tatsumi had rushed over and rushed Najenda inside.

Skyrah went to follow, but Akame grabbed her by the arm, holding her back.

"What happened?" Akame sounded frustrated.

Skyrah looked down where she was being held, then back at Akame.

She explained the story, being stopped multiple times by a very livid Akame, but carrying on to try and calm the angered girl down. It was clear to Skyrah that the girl before her already did not like her, and tried to hide her own frustration.

"All I tried to do was help, I don't need to be interrogated." Skyrah growled, pulling away from Akame.

"I'm not interrogating you, I'm just worried that you plan on doing the same as Esdeath, and wanted to make something clear." She muttered back.

"What's that?"

"If you turn out to be working for Esdeath, I will personally kill you." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"I just saved your boss!"

"You also found out where are base was."

Skyrah grit her teeth, Akame had a point, and she saw where she was coming from, she was just trying to protect her group, and saw Skyrah as an enemy.

"The last time we dragged someone new back here, they almost killed Mine in her sleep." Akame said. "Turns out Esdeath had sent him, and a ring he wore, made him seem much more friendly to women, but Tatsumi saw through his facade, and killed him before he killed all of us." She explained, drawing her sword and pointing it directly at Skyrah. "So I swear, I will not let you put any of us in danger."

"Akame, I-"

"Don't talk, stay out here for the night and we will decide what to do with you by tomorrow morning." She said, walking back into their hideout and slamming the door behind her.

Skyrah pulled her hair in frustration, smashing her fist into a nearby tree shortly after.

She walked the perimeter of the base a few times, staring at the ground as she walked, and eventually stopped at what looked like training grounds, there were training dummies against the wall, upon closer inspection from the darkness, she found wooden training weapons lining the walls.

There were also covered walkways, which would protect her from the weather while she slept.

Skyrah laid down on the wood, using what remained of her ripped sweater as a makeshift pillow.

She stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, not feeling the least bit tired. It was probably from the country she had recently come back from knocking off her sleep schedule.

She eventually leaned up, and immediately catching her eye was a training dummy.

Skyrah grinned, a little training would probably make her tired too.

"You and me, bud." She said, eying the training dummy, who did not seem to share her excitement.

After a few errors, she managed to get the dummy stuck into the ground where it wouldn't move.

"Alright, time to get started." She said with a large grin on her face, clearly visible in the moonlight. "Loputon Voima: 110 percent." On the way back to Night Raid's base, she had dialed her strength back down to it's normal level at 100 percent.

She started off slow, quick jabs to test the dummy's strength, and noticed that it hardly moved. Skyrah started to warm up, sending blinding punches that moved the dummy around slightly, she started to slide around on her feet, using momentum from her hips to increase the force of her punches, and practiced keeping her guard up.

"125 percent." She said, smashing her fists together, seeing steam begin to rise from her arms and legs and feeling her blood heat up.

She slid around her target with less resistance, sending barrage after barrage of punches while keeping her eye directly on the head of her opponent, as if to make it guess where her next barrage would hit.

"140 percent." Sweat was already pouring off of her body, almost instantly transferring to steam as it touched her metal appendages.

She now moved with ease in one direction, losing a bit of momentum when she changed directions, but quickly picking it back up.

"160 percent." Her blood was much hotter, and steam rose from her entire body.

Skyrah could now move much faster, she dodged fake attacks and began to use her legs in combat, gliding through the air before swooping down on the dummy, giving him powerful kicks all around his body.

"175 percent!" She shouted, becoming a blur to any spectator as she masterfully threw precise punches and kicks at her unmoving opponent, sending it rocking back and forth, only to be kept upright by another volley of hits.

She came to a stop right in front of the dummy, breathing heavily for a few moments.

"100 percent." She said, her voice groggy.

The girl grinned wide at her opponent, crossing her arms in triumph.

"It seems you were no match for me, I'm afraid." She said, mocking her opponent.

"It seems so."

Chills went up Skyrah's spine and she quickly turned around, wearing a massive blush as she did.

Sitting there on the small set of stairs was Najenda, a small smirk on her face as she locked eyes with Skyrah.

"I'm so sorry!" Skyrah said, falling to her knees and putting her hands together. "I didn't mean to wake you!"

Najenda chuckled, "You didn't wake me, I couldn't fall asleep in the first place." She said, pointing to her ribs, where she wore thick bandages.

Skyrah looked up from her place on the ground, her eyes wide. She quickly stood back up and went to Najenda, standing up in front of her.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Skyrah asked, scratching the back of her head.

"Long enough."

Skyrah blushed even harder, looking back at the dummy then back to Najenda.

"Yeah, sorry about that…" She apologized.

"I already told you it wasn't you that woke me." Najenda smiled up at the sweating girl.

"Alright, what do you need then?"

Najenda narrowed her eyes, looking at the no longer steaming Imperial Arms.

"I noticed that you were calling out percentages while fighting, what exactly are you doing?" She asked.

Skyrah looked down at her metal limbs. "My Imperial Arms has an ability called 'Limit Break', it lets me power them up past their normal strength." She said. "At the base strength, 100 percent, everything is normal, my strength, speed, and stamina. But anything above that is considered Limit Break, and gradually boosts my abilities." Skyrah explained.

"Well just now, you went up to 175 percent, and earlier you only went to 150 percent to fight that man in the woods."Najenda said, showing how much she had paid attention. "Why don't you just max yourself out each time, and just wipe out your opponent?"

Skyrah chuckled a little, "The maximum power is 500 percent normal strength." Najenda's jaw dropped as she said that, she had just seen what 175 percent could do, and she looked unstoppable.

"What could you ever need that much power for?" Najenda asked, baffled.

"I wouldn't know, none of the users have ever gotten that far." Skyrah explained.

Najenda was confused now. "You said none had gotten that far, what does that mean?"

Skyrah put a hand underneath her chin, "Hmm, how do I explain it…" She pondered. "I guess it's like this… the Imperial Arms begin to cause strain on their user with growing intensity the further they get away from the base strength, so it's hard to really estimate how powerful 500 percent really is." She explained. "The last person who used them was in some circus, and was careless with its power, so he tried to push it farther than even the last person, who was extremely fit, had ever done, and it killed him, just like the guy before that."

Najenda was shocked, the Imperial Arms before her could kill their user just from using it's power?

"How far did they get with it?" Najenda asked.

"The first guy went to 200 percent, the second went to 210 percent, both of them died shortly after activating that much power." Skyrah said, "It pretty much crushed their bones from so much stress on their body."

Najenda understood now, but had one last question. "So how far can you go with it?"

Skyrah grinned wide, she was waiting for that question. "I'll show you."

The girl backed away, getting close to the dummy which was in the middle of the training grounds.

"Loputon Voima…" She began, closing her eyes and spreading her arms out.

The wind blew through the surrounding trees, blowing her hair to the side as she had her back to the moonlight.

She bent her knees, opened her eyes, and smashed her fists together all in quick succession. "220 percent!" She yelled, a blast of heat and pressure making the dummy behind her lean and the stand it was on crack as it bent.

Skyrah turned around instantly, carrying her fist straight into the middle of the dummy, launching it off into the woods.

Najenda lifted up her metal arm and sent her hand flying to the back of Skyrah.

Skyrah leapt into the air, flipping backwards and connecting her foot to Najenda's extended hand, smashing it off of it's course and into the dirt.

Najenda noticed that Skyrah was now facing her, she let out a large exhale, seemed to shudder and was suddenly directly in front of her, fist positioned under her chin. The leader of Night Raid's eyes widened in shock. She was completely baffled.

This wasn't even half of it's maximum power, and if she was able to be this powerful with half of it…

What could 500 percent even be amounted to?

Shikoutazer? Esdeath? Akame? Possibly even stronger than all of them.

What could stop such monstrous strength and speed? If kept at this level, Akame would have trouble in her base form, but could easily wipe the floor with her if she used her Trump Card.

"100 percent." Skyrah said, stumbling backwards and falling down, barely catching herself and staying upright.

"I see just how much strain it puts on your body." Najenda said, standing up and holding an arm out for the girl to take.

Skyrah smiled, taking her hand and standing back up.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay out here for awhile if I could, just so I can decide what I do next without Budo and Esdeath." She asked, a small blush on her face.

"That's fine, I'll show you where the bath house is in the morning, so you don't reek of sweat all day." Najenda said with a smile, "Stay here for as long as you like."

"Thank you, Najenda." The young girl said, watching as the older woman walked away.

"Don't thank me yet, you won't be freeloading here, I'll expect you to put in just as much work as everyone else." She said, turning back to the girl and being met with a huge smile.

"Of course." and with that, the two separated.


	3. Chapter 3: Kill The Doubt

**Chapter 3**

 **Kill The Doubt**

Najenda was the first awake that morning, getting only a few hours of sleep. It had been a strange few days, that girl, Skyrah had shown up, looking for Budo and instead found her home ravaged by revolution.

" _It must be hard…"_ Najenda thought as she got out of her bed, starting her morning routine. _"To leave everything you ever knew behind, then return to it even worse than imaginable."_

It didn't seem to damage her spirit, leading Najenda to think that she was bottling up the pain that may be in her heart, or was just shrugging it off completely.

"I better check on her." She said, replacing her bandages and leaving her room, heading down to the training grounds.

As she exited the building and checked where she had last seen Skyrah.

Nothing. Not a single trace of where she may be.

Najenda slowly looked around, and suddenly noticed that in the middle of the training ground was the same training dummy that was launched into the woods the night before, and a piece of paper was pinned to it's chest.

 _Thought I should probably replace this before I left. My bad! - Skyrah_

So she left. Probably off to find her family or something in the Empire.

Suddenly, a loud screech was heard in the distance, making Najenda immediately dart to its location.

As she cut the corner to where the baths were, she found Skyrah, quite literally up a tree, dangling from a branch with a dog-sized danger beast that looked like a roach under her, desperately trying to climb the same tree she was already in, but failing miserably.

"What the hell is going on here!"

Skyrah immediately looked over to Najenda. "Najenda! Thank god! Kill it, kill it, kill it!" She screeched, her voice full of panic.

Najenda casually walked over to it, stomping on it and kicking it's corpse away.

"Are you joking?" Najenda asked, watching as Skyrah climbed down from the tree.

Skyrah crossed her arms. "I don't do bugs. Screw that." She said, shivering. "Makes my skin crawl."

Najenda was taken aback, a girl with strength like hers… was scared of bugs?

"What are you doing here?" Najenda asked. "I thought you left."

Skyrah looked confused. "Left?" She asked, "Why would I leave?"

Najenda smacked her palm to her face. "You should really fix your wording when writing…" She said, holding up the note so Skyrah read it.

"Oooh, I meant leave the training grounds, my bad." She said with an apologetic smile.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter." Najenda replied, "What are you doing over here?"

"Laundry." Skyrah replied simply.

"Laundry?" Was her answer.

"Ta-Da!" Skyrah said, stepping aside to reveal hundreds of articles of clothing, ranging from socks, to underwear, to basic shirts and what-not. All of them folded neatly in five different piles. Akame's, Mine's, Tatsumi's, Leone's and Najenda's.

Najenda's jaw dropped. "You did all of this?"

"Yup, even washed each person's separately and have them all divided up." Skyrah said with pride, a large grin on her face. "It was hard getting into some of your rooms though, but your's was opened and I saw your laundry basket, so I guessed everyone else had one too, and I was right."

"You got the basket's from everyone's room?" Najenda asked, baffled at the sheer amount of laundry they all owned.

"Yeah, I did my best not to wake anyone up, and I succeeded." She said, her eyes sparkling at her own work.

Najenda suddenly felt very deflated, apparently she had slept much harder than she had thought, especially if someone had walked through the entire hideout, gathering baskets.

"What's wrong?" Skyrah asked.

"You were in each one of our rooms, and woke none of us up?" Najenda asked. "Not even Akame or Leone?"

"Nope, I was as quiet as I could possibly be." Skyrah laughed.

"Don't you realize how dangerous that was?" Najenda asked seriously, turning to face the younger girl. "You could have been killed."

"That's why I didn't wake anyone up." Skyrah said, "I remembered what Akame said about the last time you guys let someone in, so I wanted to do something nice for you guys." She explained.

Najenda's jaw dropped for a second time. "Even though you knew what your consequence may be, you did it just to be nice?"

"Yeah, that's what I was trained to do, help people." Skyrah said, scratching the back of her head.

Just what were the limits of this girl? She was able to just waltz through the entire hideout, without waking up some of the most highly skilled assassins in the world? Was this the cause of Budo's training, or just dumb luck?

"Who the hell had this stupid idea?!" Someone shouted.

Mine stormed out of the hideout in her pajamas, her face flushed in anger.

"Good morning to you too, Mine." Najenda said.

"Sorry, I didn't think you guys would be up so early, I was about to return your clothes." Skyrah said, giving a weak smile.

Mine finally saw all of the clothes and looked right at Skyrah.

"How the hell did you manage to do all of this in one night?" She asked, stunned.

"I've done my share of dirty work during my training, this wasn't too bad." Skyrah said, looking back at her work.

Mine was shocked, she eventually crossed her arms and went to her stack of clothing. "Well, thanks."

"Mine, I didn't expect you to have such an array of lingerie, but they're all cute." Skyrah said softly enough so only Mine heard her.

Mine instantly blushed, scooping up all of her clothes at once and running into the house shouting back at Skyrah.

"I wonder why she's gotta be so shy, we're both girls." She mumbled to herself.

"What was that about?" Najenda asked.

"Oh, Mine's-"

"Shutup, Skyrah!" Mine yelled out a window, still carrying her clothes to her room.

"Fine!" Skyrah said, crossing her arms.

Najenda shook her head, "Let's get everyone else's clothes back before they wake up."

After the duo finished returning the clothing to their respective owners, they parted ways.

Skyrah spent the morning wandering around the hideout while the other members woke up, she found herself right outside of Tatsumi's room as he exited.

Tatsumi blinked, as she was only inches away from him.

"Good morning." Skyrah said, backing away a little.

"Morning, what are you doing here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I washed your clothes." She said, pointing down to the stack of clothes outside his door.

Tatsumi followed her arm and spotted his clothes. "Really? Thanks!" He said, seeming genuinely happy. "You really didn't have to do this."

"Well, you guys did kind of take me in, so I tried to do something for you all." Skyrah said, smiling. "I'm glad your happy." A look in her eye caught Tatsumi's attention, and he grabbed her arm just as she turned away.

Skyrah turned back, but the look Tatsumi had seen was gone. "Do you need something else?" She asked.

"No, sorry." He said, letting go of her and watching her leave.

"What was that?" He asked himself after she had left.

He couldn't place just what it could mean, but he knew something was wrong.

Skyrah walked down the hall, away from Tatsumi's room. She didn't mean to be so awkward with him, she was just a little taken aback when she saw him face-to-face for the first time.

The girl suddenly was stopped.

"What's wrong with you, kiddo?" Leone asked, smiling happily down at the shorter girl.

"Nothing, I'm fine." She lied, Leone was not convinced.

"Nah, something's eating at you." Leone said, walking along with her. "Come on, tell your big sis."

Skyrah raised an eyebrow. "Big sis?" She asked.

"I'm everybody's big sister around here, Sky, you don't have to be weird about it." Leone laughed, already giving Skyrah a nickname. "So come on, tell me."

"It's… Tatsumi." Skyrah said, a sad look coming over her face.

"Oh, Tatsumi, huh?" She giggled, leaning close to Skyrah. "Sorry to tell ya, but he's already taken."

Skyrah suddenly realized how she must have sounded, and jumped away. "N-not t-that, I didn't mean it like that!" She said in a panicked dismissal.

Leone looked confused, "What do you mean then?"

The look on Skyrah's face returned. "H-he looks like someone I used to go to school with, that's all." She said, the huge blush on her face fading.

"Did you have a crush on him too?" Leone joked.

Skyrah smiled weakly, "Well, a little, but he was just a really good friend." She said. "He always told me how he'd protect me, no matter what."

"Oh?" Leone smiled, leaning in close. "So where's he now?"

"That's why it hurts to talk to Tatsumi…" Skyrah said, feeling tears come to her eyes. "He was killed, protecting me."

Leone lost her smile, and stood up straight.

"We lived in a little town near Joyou, and one day our teacher wasn't there. We expected a substitute, but he didn't come until late." She said, feeling those horrible memories come to the surface. "He was dressed like a clown, we all were happy to see him, but didn't know he wasn't a teacher at all, he was a… a freak." She explained, her eyes widening as she remembered the horrifying day. "He slaughtered the entire class, and violated some of the bodies, I was the only one who survived, but I lost my arms and legs."

"Stop, Skyrah…" Leone said, holding her shoulders.

"I hid under my classmates corpses like a coward… my best friend's mutilated corpse was the only thing that kept that man from seeing me."

"Skyrah!" Leone slapped the girl, making her snap back to reality.

Skyrah held the side of her face in pain and realized how much she had been crying. She looked up at Leone and wiped away her tears.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to do all that."

"You don't have to be sorry, especially about something like that." Leone said, hugging Skyrah tightly. "Is that the reason you fight?"

Skyrah's eyes widened, nobody had ever asked her why she fought, but she knew.

"I fight to stop twisted people like him." She said. "So nobody has to grow up like I did."

Akame hid herself around the corner where Leone and Skyrah were standing, she had heard everything.

Leone knew how she felt, from how she grew up in the slums. She eventually pulled away from Skyrah and smiled. "Come with me."

Leone and Skyrah picked up Akame and Tatsumi along the way, and the group found themselves led to the training grounds.

Leone stepped in front of them. "Alright, I have a test for Skyrah here, from the Boss herself." She announced proudly.

Mine and Najenda were already there, both looking rather impatient.

"Finally!" Mine shouted. "Go Akame!"

"You two." Leone pointed at Akame and Skyrah. "Will have a little sparring match."

The two looked at each other in surprise, then back to Leone.

"Before either of you say anything, we'll stop if you are unable to go on." Leone said, "So nobody gets injured too bad."

"Leave it to Leone to make such a fuss out of a sparring match." Najenda said, lighting a cigarette. "This wasn't what I meant by testing her, but it works."

Akame unclipped her sword and let it drop to the ground, stepping out onto the grounds, looking back at Skyrah.

"Alright, I'm coming." Skyrah took off her sweater and pants, revealing her sports bra and small shorts, showing off her legs and arms in full.

She stepped down and stood across from Akame, both of them locking eyes and getting in their own stances.

The world was still around them, Leone was amazed by just how focused they were.

"Begin." She said.

Not a second passed and the two had already closed the gap between them, Skyrah rushed in with her arms up and her body low, a stance like a boxer. Akame sped in and the two connected blows, both hitting each other in the face and locking together.

Tatsumi leaned forward. "They matched each-other's speed!"

The two split apart, Akame went right back in and smashed her fist into Skyrah's face, but as Skyrah leaned back from the recoil of the punch, she leaned into Akame's force and sent her fist into Akame's stomach.

As she was being lifted by the counter-punch, Akame used her knee and hit Skyrah under her chin on the way up.

Both split apart again, neither showing any sign of backing down.

"This is intense." Mine commented. "I've never seen Akame like this…"

"Both of them are trying to prove themselves." Najenda said, "But not to us, to each other."

Skyrah rushed forward and jabbed, which Akame ducked under, swinging and hitting Skyrah in her armpit. Skyrah immediately backed off, pain coursed through her shoulder and made her wince, giving Akame another opening.

Akame rushed forward and kicked Skyrah in the side of her head, making the already off balance girl flying to the side.

"Akame will win at this rate." Leone said, "Skyrah took a bad hit."

Skyrah got back to her feet quickly, catching Akame's fist and shoving her away.

"Loputon Voima: 200 percent!" Skyrah yelled, smashing her fists together and rushing Akame with newfound speed.

Akame was caught off guard and barely glanced off of a punch to the face.

Despite missing, Skyrah didn't seem to lose any speed and rushed Akame again, this time clotheslining her opponent, knocking her right onto her back.

Akame spun on the ground, tripping Skyrah and getting to her feet.

Skyrah was almost to her feet when Akame rushed back in and hit her across the face, putting her back onto the ground.

There was a moment of silence between the two, so Akame backed away.

"This is Akame's limit without Murasame." Najenda said. "Skyrah still can't keep up with her."

"What do you mean?" Mine asked.

"Skyrah's Teigu is making her faster and stronger, but she is still not on Akame's level." Najenda said.

Akame continued to get hits in on Skyrah, who had since gone into a full defense.

"100 percent!" Skyrah said as Akame gave her a short break between barrages.

Najenda's eyes widened. "She's lowering her power?!" She was in shock, she could hardly fight at 200 percent, and she was still dropping her power?

Akame had long since noticed what Skyrah's Teigu was capable of, and narrowed her eyes. "Are you mocking me?" She asked.

Skyrah had her face hidden behind her arms, which were up in defense. "Come and find out." She said.

Akame continued to barrage Skyrah with a series of punches and kicks, connecting with multiple parts of her body, but mostly being blocked.

Najenda was amazed at just how much of a beating Skyrah was taking, she was showing plenty of fatigue, but her face was still hidden.

"End it, Akame!" Mine shouted.

Najenda looked down at her comrade, then back up at the fight. Just what was going on? Skyrah had to be close to giving in to Akame, nobody could take this much of a beating.

Akame landed one more kick and stopped, breathing heavily.

"Don't fail me…" Skyrah said softly, putting down her arms and revealing her weak smile, she spread her arms wide and looked up at Akame. "Loputon Voima: 250 percent!" She shouted, smashing her fists together.

Najenda's eyes widened as pressure from the transformation blew everyone's hair back. Skyrah's arms and legs were steaming from an inner heat, and she had her eyes locked on Akame.

Skyrah was upon Akame within the blink of an eye, hitting Akame with a barrage of punches at breakneck speed, much to Akame's surprise.

"She passed her limit… by paying attention to Akame's speed and style at her base strength." Najenda said, amazed at the battle before her.

Akame tried to evade the next attack, but Skyrah switched her own attack before Akame could react, getting away with a strong kick to the stomach.

"Akame can't keep up with her now, and she was already physically stronger…" Tatsumi commented. "The tide has turned."

Skyrah kicked Akame's legs out from under her and while she was still falling, put both of her fists together above her head and smashed them down onto Akame, crushing her into the dirt with massive force.

"Her focus is just ridiculous." Leone said, noting just how fast she was reacting to anything coming from Akame.

Akame finally got away from Skyrah and was breathing heavily, blood running down the side of her mouth.

Skyrah looked no better, she had a trail of blood from the top of her head going down over her eye, countless scratches and scuffs from previous attacks were all over her body.

The two both looked ready to drop.

"You are strong." Akame said.

"So are you." Skyrah replied with a weak smile.

"But I still have more." Akame said, standing up straight and walking over to her sword, lightly cutting herself against it.

"What are you doing?" Skyrah asked, confused by the sudden gesture.

Blood red markings began to appear all over Akame's body, when she turned back to face Skyrah, her eyes had changed drastically too.

With no hesitation, Akame fired towards Skyrah, sending a strong punch directly into the side of Skyrah's face.

Skyrah recoiled from the punch, and was immediately met by another one, which knocked her down and out.

"Two punches?!" Tatsumi cried in confusion.

Skyrah was out cold, her newfound strength was destroyed immediately by Akame's power.

All of Night Raid went down and checked on the two combatants, Akame helped Skyrah to her feet and woke her up.

"Ouch." Was the first thing Skyrah said as she woke up, grabbing her head in pain.

Akame looked at the girl she had just fought and smiled.

"Akame." Skyrah said. "I wanted to say sorry."

"For what?" Akame asked, looking over to the girl in her arms.

"Being so inconsiderate when I first got here. I understand why you want to protect your friends so much." She said, looking over to Leone and Najenda. "They're… amazing."

Akame saw the sincere look in Skyrah's eyes and smiled. "Well I'm sorry for treating you so bad when you helped us." She said. "And you are our friend too."

Skyrah smiled wide, a tear falling from one of her closed eyes. "Thank you."

Najenda stepped in front of the two. "Skyrah, I would like to propose a position in Night Raid for you." She said. "Leone told me that you fight to help others, and stop the corrupt, and that's exactly what we do, so join us." She extended her arm.

"I accept your offer, thank you." Skyrah grabbed Najenda's hand, and was lifted so she was standing.

Night Raid had a new ally, and Esdeath had a new enemy.


	4. Chapter 4: Kill The Twins

**Chapter 4**

 **Kill The Twins**

Akame stood outside Chelsea's old room, where Skyrah was presumably sleeping. She took a deep breath before knocking on it. It had only been a week since she had officially joined Night Raid, and the two had fully recovered from their wounds. Najenda had told Akame and Skyrah they would be going on an assassination mission today, and that the two they were going after were extremely dangerous to take on alone.

Skyrah had already met one of them, Sacher. From what Akame had heard he went down easily, but his brother wasn't there to fight with him. Najenda advised to split them up and take them on one at a time, because from what some of the Revolutionary Army said, the two together could obliterate an entire force of soldiers.

Akame knocked again. "Skyrah? I'm coming in." Akame said, opening the door.

Skyrah stood looking in the mirror, a hair band clasped in her teeth as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

She spit out the hair band and smiled through the mirror at Akame. "Sorry, I was having a little trouble getting dressed." She said.

Akame walked over and sat Skyrah down, pulling back her hair gently and putting it in the ponytail she was trying to do.

"Thanks, Akame." She said, recieving a nod as a reply.

Akame also buttoned the top button on Skyrah's shirt and stepped back.

Skyrah reminded her so much of Chelsea, they had even lent her some of Chelsea's clothes since their measurements were practically identical.

Skyrah sported a white, long sleeve button up shirt with a collar and a red skirt, along with black leggings to hide her legs. She kept her normal brown boots and white gloves she had come with, along with her trademark armored sports bra, which was the only thing she wore constantly.

"How do I look?" Skyrah asked, doing a little spin for her friend.

"Good, they suit you well." Akame said with a smile. "Now we need to go, Najenda is counting on us."

"Let's head out then." Skyrah replied, springing up and following Akame out of the hideout.

The duo waited for a few hours until night fell to enter the Capital, they had been tipped off that the twin brothers liked to spend free time in a Brothel, where they would forcibly violate the women who worked there, even killing some that didn't comply with their freakish demands.

"Was it one of the girls who work there that hired us?" Skyrah asked Akame as they walked through the streets.

"Yeah, one of her friends was killed after disobeying the older brother." Akame said.

Sacher and Leo, the older of the two being Leo, were both going to die tonight.

"Try not to get grabbed by these guys, Akame…" Skyrah said. "If Leo is anything like Sacher, then I don't want to know what would happen to us if they somehow got ahold of us." She warned.

"Sacher was a masochist, you said?" Akame asked.

"Yeah, he got pretty… excited during our fight." Skyrah said, shuddering.

The two continued to walk until they reached the brothel, where they were greeted as they entered.

"Oh, you two are cuties, are you looking for some work?" An older woman behind a desk asked the two.

Akame almost said something, but Skyrah covered her mouth.

"Yes, we're supposed to be waiting on two clients tonight." She said, with a slow smile.

"What are their names?" The woman asked, looking skeptical.

"Sacher and Leo." Skyrah said, trying to keep up her act.

The woman's eyes widened, looking panicked. "Are you two girls really up to be with those two?" She asked, a frightened sound in her voice. "You must know their reputation here…"

"We're prepared, ma'am." She said, offering a weak smile.

The woman didn't seem convinced, but grumbled something to herself and wrote something down on a notepad, pointing with her pen after she was done.

"You two can go wait in that room there, I'll tell them to join you when they arrive." She said.

Skyrah dragged Akame over to the room and closed the door behind them.

"It stinks." Akame said.

Skyrah inhaled, immediately regretting it. "Yeah, it does."

As she looked around she found it was much harder to see inside the room than the rest of the building, there was a large circular bed at the top of the room, adorned with large velvet-red curtains and dull pink blankets and pillows, the rest of the room was pretty bare.

"So, what part of the plan is this?" Akame asked, looking a little frustrated.

Skyrah sighed, "Look, I saw an opportunity and took it." She said, "This will be much faster than just waiting for them to leave on the roof."

"Fine, prepare yourself." Akame agreed.

Skyrah sat down on the bed, motioning for Akame to join her.

"We need to-"

"What the hell are you talking about, bitch?" A voice shouted from outside. "We didn't need you to plan two whores for us!"

Skyrah and Akame quickly sat down on the bed.

"That's Sacher." Skyrah whispered to Akame, she easily recognized his voice.

"Leo must be with him." Akame replied, hiding her Murasame behind the two girls.

"Please, just go with them." It was the woman from before. She sounded like she was being choked.

"Fine!" Sacher shouted, sounding like he threw the woman to the side. "But if these girls aren't the best you've got, I'm killing all of you!"

Skyrah pulled her hairband out and pushed Akame onto her back on the bed, quickly getting on top of her and bringing her face close. Skyrah's hair had made a veil around the two, and they stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever, red eyes reflected off of Skyrah's green. Both said nothing, but both shared a moment of complete silence, staring at each other's faces.

"Oh-ho-ho, getting started without us, girls?" Sacher asked, licking his lips as Skyrah turned back to take a look at him.

Sacher was much taller than who she assumed to be Leo, a toad-looking man who was grossly overweight and wore large glasses.

"Why don't you come and join us, boys?" She asked, turning back down to Akame.

To her surprise, her comrade had a huge blush on her face, and looked extremely uncomfortable in their position.

"Now."

Skyrah sprung back, slamming her fist into Leo's face and bringing him down hard onto the ground.

Akame jumped up, unsheathing Murasame and stabbing right through Sacher's chest.

The cursed blade made him drop to the ground, killing him instantly.

"You've… really messed up now." Sacher said as he collapsed, falling dead.

Skyrah hit Leo again and again, making him squirm under her.

Eventually, Leo grabbed one of Skyrah's arms and jerked her off of him, scurrying to get to his feet.

"Who the hell are you people?" He asked.

Akame pulled her sword out of Sacher and walked towards the remaining brother, but was stopped by Skyrah.

"We're just like the girls you two have killed here, we just know how to defend ourselves." Skyrah answered.

"I haven't done anything wrong! You can't do this to me!" He squealed, backing himself into a corner.

"Oh, what a shame, I guess it sucks when you pick on someone your own size, huh?" Skyrah asked, coming close to Leo and making him close his eye in hear.

"Please, I beg of y-"

Skyrah grabbed the overweight man by his throat, squeezing until she heard a loud crack from his neck breaking.

She dropped him in a heap on the ground, where he didn't as much as move.

"Let's go, before someone comes looking for them." Akame said, tugging on the back of Skyrah's shirt.

The two left out a window, leaving no trace of them.

Leone greeted the two as they returned from their mission, it was nearing the early hours of the morning, so the two decided to go off to bed.

Skyrah was thankful her first mission wasn't as difficult as it could have been, Tatsumi had recently been sent on a mission with Mine and both of them came back pretty banged up.

"See you in the morning, Akame." Skyrah said as they parted ways in the hallway.

Akame gave a nod and went to her room.

Skyrah sighed as she entered her room, removing her gloves, skirt, leggings and boots. Next she unbuttoned her shirt and removed her bra, quickly putting her shirt back on and buttoning it up to where it could be worn comfortably. After undressing, she climbed into bed and got under the covers, putting her hands behind her head and staring up at the ceiling.

It was strange, just a few weeks ago she was finishing her training, in a complete other part of the world, ready to return home to see the only person she had ever looked at like a father, but instead found people who treated her like family.

She smiled, closing her eyes.

For the first time in a long time, she was truly happy. Surrounded by people that cared about her, and she cared about, she had never been happier. She felt just how nice it was to have friends, that she was willing to lay her life on the line for. Even if she was in a group that was always under danger, it felt like she had no other place to be than right where she was.

Her mind began to drift, sleep slowly took ahold of her. She quietly wished for the nightmares to stay away, another night in a row.

But her mind had other plans.

 _Blood. So much blood._

 _Skyrah knew this place, she had seen it hundreds- no, thousands of times before._

 _He stood over the pile of young children, defiling their young corpses in any way he pleased. Nobody came to help, nobody came to save them, despite their cries of pain and horror. Some children watched as their classmates were butchered and defiled, their young eyes scarred with grisly images and their young skin stained with blood of their friends._

 _Skyrah couldn't move, she couldn't help any of them._

 _Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a young boy standing in front of a girl, his arms raised in defense. Then she saw that boy be cut down where he stood, and the girl behind him dismembered, left to bleed to death among the bodies of her butchered and violated classmates._

 _Skyrah watched as the man stand over the young girl, he said something, but she couldn't hear it._

" _Get out of my head, damn you!" Skyrah shouted, trying to cover her eyes._

 _The face of the clown appeared under Skyrah's closed eyes, smiling and laughing at her. She couldn't get away from him, she couldn't stop him, she couldn't make him go away._

" _Stop!"_

Skyrah's eyes flashed open.

Akame's face in the dim candlelit room registered in her mind.

She noticed just how hard she was breathing, and how frightened Akame looked.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Akame asked as Skyrah began to calm down.

"I… Y-yes…" Skyrah shook under the covers in fear, she didn't want to dream of him!

Akame gently wiped the tears out of Skyrah's eyes. "I'm sorry to intrude."

Skyrah shook her head. "It's fine, what do you need?" She asked.

"I was just trying to get you back." Akame said.

"Get me back? For what?" Skyrah questioned.

Akame got on top of Skyrah and grabbed her hands with her own, pinning her down like how Skyrah had done it to her earlier that night.

"For doing this." Akame put her face close to Skyrah's, mimicking what had happened earlier that day in reverse roles. "It was uncomfortable, and strange, but at the same time… it was… calming."

Skyrah blushed hard, Akame quickly followed suit.

The two stared up into each other's eyes for a second time that night. Skyrah noticed how much her breathing had slowed in such a short time. Akame was right, it was calming.

Akame leaned up. "See what I mean?" She asked hurriedly, her blush growing.

"Y-yeah…" Skyrah said. "Sorry."

Akame fidgeted a little, then rolled over onto the other side of the bed.

"Just don't do it again." She said softly.

Skyrah leaned over, looking the opposite way of where Akame was lying.

Akame did the same thing, only she soon found her eyes were very hard to keep open.

Soon, the two were both asleep. With no nightmares for either of them.

The next morning, Skyrah woke up in the early hours of the afternoon. Akame still remained beside her, Murasame propped up on the dresser next to her.

Skyrah rolled over and found a note on the dresser on her side of the bed, which she picked up and opened.

 _When you two lovebirds decide_

 _to get up, I have breakfast made_

 _downstairs!_

 _~Leone_

Skyrah fell out of the bed upon reading the note. That was absolutely not the reason the two were together, and Leone knew it, Skyrah bet she was laughing about it right then!

She'd get Leone back for this somehow, but first she'd have to find her.

"What are you doing?" Akame asked, rolling over through the bed under the covers.

"Going to kill Leone, at the moment." Skyrah said, opening the door.

"In a shirt and panties?" Akame asked, pointing at Skyrah.

Skyrah looked down at herself, she still had yet to put anything on.

"Are you finally awake, Skyr-" Tatsumi suddenly felt the full force of a door in his face, knocking him down onto his butt. "What the hell?!" He cried.

Skyrah opened the door just a slit, looking out at Tatsumi, who was holding his face.

"Pervert." She said, closing the door softly.

"What?!" He shouted, "It's not my fault you left your door open!" He soon got up and stomped away, muttering under his breath as he left.

Skyrah clothed herself, and turned to Akame, who was reading the note.

"We have a big problem." Akame said, looking up at Skyrah. "Leone can't cook."

The two girls rushed downstairs, finding themselves in the kitchen where Leone was washing dishes. But on the floor lay their three comrades, Mine, Tatsumi and Najenda, all grasping their stomachs in pain.

"What happened here?" Akame asked, going to pick up Tatsumi.

"The food… it's so awful" Tatsumi groaned, grabbing Akame's shoulder. "Why couldn't you cook for us?"

A single tear fell down Tatsumi's cheek, then he fell limp in Akame's arms.

Skyrah rubbed the bridge of her nose in confusion and disappointment. With a sigh, she sat down at the table. "Come on, it can't be that bad."

All other members of Night Raid except for Leone stared at Skyrah in terror.

"You would willingly eat… that?" Mine pointed to the mass of food that was slammed in front of Skyrah by Leone, who wore a proud smile.

"You are all a bunch of babies, I bet Skyrah likes my food!" Leone said proudly, giving the proper utensils to the young girl.

Skyrah looked down at the plate, and soon realized her mistake. Mixtures of foods she never thought would go together were in a bubbling mass on top of the small plate.

"Um, what is it?" Skyrah asked as nicely as possible.

Leone looked down at the plate, and studied it for a moment, a worried expression was on her face for a split second, then she slapped Skyrah in the back and smiled. "Don't worry about it, kid, just eat it!"

Skyrah picked up a glob of the pile of food and smiled weakly as it physically _moved_ on her spoon. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure that she was going to take a bite.

"Skyrah, don't do this to yourself." Najenda said, crawling towards her like she had been injured. "This is going to far."

Skyrah looked to the food, then back to her friends, who all lay on the ground, looking up at her in anticipation. She then looked up to Leone, who had a large grin on her face, and followed up by winking quickly.

Without hesitating any longer, Skyrah shoved the glob of food in her mouth, slammed her fists down into the table, and began to chew.

Everyone looked at her in horror, everyone except for Leone, that is.

"She did it." Najenda said, her mouth agape in shock.

"It's over for her." Tatsumi said, falling limp again.

"She's done for." Mine said, falling down onto her back and staring up at the ceiling.

Leone leaned in close as Skyrah continued to chew. "How is it?"

Skyrah swallowed, and regretted her decision to do so.

The food was so incredibly spicy, and somehow also sour. It had too much of everything, like a chimera of food. She tasted fish as well, also undercooked meat.

She offered a weak smile to Leone, who's grin widened even further.

"See?" Leone said, looking to everyone else. "I don't know why you all have to be so dramatic."

Skyrah stood up, her eyes watering from the mixture of tastes. "I'm gonna go… do the laundry or something." She said, running out of the room.

"Wait!" Leone said as the girl disappeared. "You forgot to finish your food!"


	5. Chapter 5: Kill The Past

**Message from Author:** Thanks to everyone for leaving kind reviews, I'm having loads of fun writing this story, so much that it has reached 12 completed chapters! (which will be periodically put out for you all to read). I hope everyone enjoys reading the coming chapters as much as I did writing them. Also, **Luna** , I don't plan on using Akame's, or anyone's Trump Card repetitively, it was only used as a measurement of Skyrah's power. Thank you for the review. And to the **Guest** , I guess you'll just have to read on to find out! ;D

 **Chapter 5**

 **Kill The Past**

Skyrah had spent her day in town, picking up groceries for the rest of the group, it had been awhile since any of the members had gone shopping, so she had volunteered to go for them, which they gladly accepted. It had only been a few hours since she had left, and it wouldn't be long before she was finished. She had one last store to go into for herself, to pick up some new clothes.

As she entered, a bell above her rang and the smell of roses invaded her nostrils, it was nice to be shopping in a small town. It was a beautiful plot of land they were on, flowers were in full bloom all around the buildings and covered the rolling hills. Shades of red, yellow and purple mixed together in a striking radiance that seemed to make everyone in the town calm and relaxed.

Skyrah knew she could spend hours admiring the land, but she had things to do, and couldn't get caught up in the scenery. Still, she imagined that when she was old enough, and the wars were all over, she could find herself a house here and live peacefully the rest of her life. She then questioned if she would have someone to be with her, it was something that had recently sprouted in her mind, just who she would be with once it was all over.

The girl shook her head, it was no time to think about that, she had to get back to Night Raid soon.

With a quickened pace, she walked through the store, looking at clothes she might want as the summer season came to a close. It would only be a month or so, and it would be time for autumn.

She heard the bell above the door again, and looked towards it, seeing a man enter. His long blond hair blew from the wind outside, and his warm smile made something in Skyrah's head switch on.

She had seen that face before. How could she forget the face of the very man who never came back to help?

Skyrah slid through some of the racks of clothes and made her way over to the man, stopping behind him.

"Run?" She asked softly, causing him to turn around.

There was no doubt, it was him. His golden eyes met her emerald, and they stared directly at each other. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" He asked.

"You taught in a classroom near the town of Joyou." She said. "My name is Skyrah."

Run's eyes widened, tears welled up in the sides of his eyes and streamed down the side of his face. "Skyrah?" He choked out, softly holding the sides of her face and studying it with his eyes, as if he couldn't believe she was there. "How are you…"

"Alive?" She asked, gritting her teeth in anger. Deep down, she knew her anger was in the wrong direction, but she never even thought about finding the clown. "Why did you leave us?"

Run let go of her. "I-I didn't know…" He sobbed. "I know… how you must feel."

"You don't know the beginning of it." She growled. "You weren't there, watching your friends get killed, praying that someone would come to help." Tears poured from her eyes.

"I found him… the clown." He said.

Skyrah's eyes widened, she grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him up. "Where?!" She growled, her eyes shining with a fire behind them. "Where is he?!"

Suddenly, a blade was at Skyrah's throat.

"Don't make me kill you in this nice place." The wielder said.

"Kurome, don't!" Run grabbed the blade with his bare hand and pulled it away, his blood began sliding down the blade.

Kurome looked confused, she looked at Run for a moment and pulled her blade away, sheathing it.

"Do you remember what I told you about when I was a teacher?" He asked the black haired, black eyed girl.

Skyrah suddenly saw a stark resemblance between this girl, Kurome and Akame. The two almost looked identical.

Kurome nodded at Run, who then explained further.

"This is one of my students." He said, looking back at Skyrah.

"I thought you said they were all killed." Kurome stated, crossing her arms.

Skyrah was angry now.

"Did you even check?!" She shouted. "Or did you just assume we were all dead?!"

Run put his hands up in defense, "Skyrah, you don't understand…"

"Just tell me where the clown is, before I break your damn nose." Skyrah demanded, not caring about the girl beside her.

"He's in a group that call themselves Wild Hunt." He said. "You don't understand their power, Skyrah… you don't stand a chance against them." Run explained, trying to grab ahold of her as she walked out.

"I'll have you know that I got training, instead of sitting back and not doing anything about a bunch of dead kids." She said, walking towards the door. "From General Budo."

"You'll make an excellent puppet." The girl said.

The sound of wind made Skyrah turn around, just as Kurome's sword smashed into her arm, bouncing off of metal instead of cutting through flesh.

"Wha-" Kurome winced as her blade vibrated in her hands.

Skyrah swung fast, striking Kurome in the side of her face.

"Kurome, no!" Run shouted.

Suddenly, the blade that she thought would still be unable to use cut right into her stomach, going all the way through her body until it stuck out of her back.

Kurome came in close, whispering in Skyrah's ear. "Run cares about you, so now he can be with you forever." She cooed.

Skyrah looked into Kurome's black, merciless eyes. She coughed and the taste of blood was in her mouth, making her shudder and want to puke.

"Just die, you'll be happier with me." Kurome smiled as Skyrah fell to her knees, trying desperately to force the blade out of her stomach, but Kurome kept it there. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Skyrah grit her teeth and stood back onto her feet, much to Run and Kurome's surprise. "I can't die here." She said, gripping the blade and pushing.

"Too bad." Kurome pulled the blade out and kicked Skyrah in the chest, making her fall down, staring up at the ceiling as she slowly blacked out.

 _ **2 days later...**_

Skyrah awoke suddenly, a face was directly above her's. A face she had never seen before.

He had ocean blue eyes and dark blue hair, as well as a very tanned face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." He said with a smile. "My name is Wave, I guess your Skyrah."

Skyrah noticed there were tears streaming from her eyes, which was soon wiped away by the boy above her. She was confused by the kind gesture.

"Sorry, I can't stand to see a girl cry." He said, offering a smile. "Did you have a bad dream?" He asked.

Skyrah tried to remember why she was crying, but came up with nothing. "I can't remember, but thank you." She said, beginning to sit up.

"Woah, not so fas-"

Skyrah screamed as a burning pain in her stomach made her stay down, she looked under the covers, where her lower torso had been heavily bandaged.

"Where am I?" Skyrah demanded, holding her stomach in pain.

"You're in a carriage, a few miles from the Capital." Wave answered calmly. "We're taking you back to our headquarters so we can heal you."

"Skyrah, I'm sorry about Kurome." Run's voice, he must have been the one driving.

Skyrah looked around, the carriage she was in had Wave next to her, Run driving and Kurome at the back of it, staring at Skyrah.

"Yeah, sorry about stabbing you." Kurome apologized, but her voice didn't sound sincere at all.

The injured girl sat up again, biting her lip as she pushed against the pain until she was kneeling.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kurome warned as Wave tried to help. "If you happen to die from that wound, you get to become my puppet."

"Screw you." Skyrah said, struggling to her feet.

"Wait just a minute, you shouldn't even be moving." Wave said, trying to usher her back down.

Skyrah walked to the back of the carriage, which Run had made come to a stop.

"Skyrah, please stop, just lay back down." Run said, climbing back into the carriage.

As she made her way to the back of the carriage, Kurome stood up and got in her way.

"Fine." Skyrah said, rearing back and barrelling through Kurome, much to the girl's surprise.

The two launched out of the back of the carriage, falling into a heap on the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Kurome growled at her as she climbed to her feet, Skyrah following close behind and trying to walk away.

"You'll die." Kurome said, watching her struggle to walk off.

Skyrah's body screamed to stop, but she pushed onwards, she knew that using her Teigu now would kill her from the stress on her wound, so she had to go on her own strength.

"Do you really think that you, even if you survived the attack by that clown once, could possibly hope to win against him?" Kurome picked at Skyrah's brain.

Skyrah made a slow swing that Kurome easily dodged, laughing at the pathetic attack.

"In this shape a low class danger beast could kill you without any trouble!" Kurome laughed. "Do you really think you stand a chance in this shape?"

"Shutup!" Skyrah yelled, swinging and missing again.

Kurome kicked Skyrah in the back, making her fall down face-first into the dirt.

Skyrah felt fresh blood pouring from her re-opened wound.

"You're pathetic!" Kurome continued to laugh and kick at her on the ground. "Just die, you don't deserve life!"

Skyrah was helpless, out in the middle of nowhere, alone with no hope of getting back to Night Raid, or anywhere that she could escape these people.

"Kurome, stop!" Run shouted, running over.

"He won't help you, just like he didn't before!"

Skyrah sprung up, smashing her fist under Kurome's chin and sending her up into the air, falling and slamming into the dirt.

"I'm not going to let someone like you kill me off in a place like this." Skyrah said, collapsing again.

Run reached Kurome and helped her up. "You don't have a choice, bitch." Kurome said, walking back over to Skyrah and stomping on her wound, causing the injured girl to scream in agony.

She was right, Skyrah didn't have a choice, she put all of her remaining strength into that one punch, and it wasn't enough.

Kurome lifted her foot up to continue her beating, but a red flare lit up the sky.

" **INCURSIO!"** Skyrah knew the voice well, it made a smile creep onto her face.

"It's Night Raid!" Wave shouted, "We have to leave!"

Kurome was tackled by Leone, and Akame came flying in directly after, smashing into Run and throwing him onto the side of the road.

Kurome, without her blade, kicked Leone off of her and ran for her weapon.

Using the time they had as an opening, Leone grabbed Skyrah and took off into the forest. Akame followed quickly.

Tatsumi soon caught up with the rest of the group, telling the group that none of them were chasing.

"Mine, where's Mine?" Skyrah choked out.

"Covering us." Tatsumi said, just as he finished, a beam of light and an explosion rocked through the forest, coming from Pumpkin.

Akame got up close to Skyrah. "You can't pass out." She said, tears in her eyes. "You can't be one of Kurome's puppets too!"

Skyrah's vision was blurry, but she recognized the voice. "I'm trying." She said. "It hurts."

"You got stabbed by Kurome's sword?" Tatsumi asked, knowing just what the sword would do to it's victims. "Dammit, we got to get her back fast."

"I'm running as fast as I can." Leone said. "We'll be at the Manta soon."

"They might shoot down the Manta again…" Tatsumi speculated.

"Well if we keep running with her, she dies in a few minutes." Leone growled at her friend. "It's our best chance.

Skyrah heard voices, but she couldn't tell what they were saying, or who they were coming from.

"Dammit, she's fading fast." Leone said, looking ahead, where the flying Manta was ready to leave, Mine sitting on top of it.

"What took you so long?" Mine shouted.

"No time to explain, let's go!" Leone put down Skyrah as gently as she could and the Manta took off, leaving the Jaegers behind.

Skyrah felt the wind against her face, everything else was gone. No voices, no pain, nothing.

"Loputon… Voima… don't fail me." She said softly.

Skyrah closed her eyes, her head falling back into Leone's lap as she blacked out.

" **Skyrah!"**


	6. Chapter 6: Kill The Fear

**Chapter 6**

 **Kill The Fear**

Akame slowly opened her eyes, the light from Skyrah's window poured in. The room was eerily still and silent, the young assassin held her breath, listening to the world around her. She focused for anything else, and was relieved to hear Skyrah's slow, steady breathing.

She let out her breath and leaned up, looking up at her comrade who lie asleep, a wet rag over her forehead to ward off her fever. Skyrah had gotten what was potentially a fatal cold that was tormenting her healing body.

" _Something just as small as this cold could kill her."_ Leone's voice echoed in the back of her mind. _"Her body is doing all it can to heal her wound, so it can't heal both at the same time."_

It had been almost a full three day since Skyrah was awake when they found her captured by the Jaegers. The days she had been missing the team had gone out to search for her, and she was spotted being put in a carriage near the capital, so they gave chase.

She hadn't even been able to explain to the team how she had gotten captured, or what the Jaegers knew about her.

Something had gone wrong, and Kurome had ended up fatally wounding her, but she had been kept alive after that. Why?

Akame shook her head, she couldn't answer the questions herself, she would have to wait until Skyrah was awake.

Akame lowered the covers off of Skyrah and looking under her light bandaging.

Her wound had completely closed, by what Akame assumed to be her Teigu aiding her. Knowing that her Teigu had come from the blood of a steel golem, the team had chalked it up to be an advanced regenerative ability that Skyrah hadn't told them about. Although she could recover her wounds quickly, it didn't make her invincible, or anywhere near it.

She studied the girl silently, putting her hand over the rag and removing it slowly. Akame replaced the rag with her hand, feeling for her fever, hoping it had gone away.

"Use your lips."

The voice of Leone scared Akame, making her pull her hand away.

"What?" Akame asked, looking up at her blonde-haired comrade.

"Your lips, use them instead of your hand." Leone said, pointing to her own lips.

"Why?" Akame questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Lips are more sensitive to temperature, rather than your hand." Leone answered.

Akame remembered the note Leone had left for the two of them a few days before and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair that was seated beside Skyrah's bed.

"No, that's unnecessary." She said.

"Fine, I'll do it." Leone said, walking beside the bed and leaning over Skyrah, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. "Hopefully I don't bite."

Akame stood up and pulled Leone away. "Fine! I'll do it!" She said, seating a smiling Leone behind her.

Akame stood over Skyrah, looking down at her sleeping face. She leaned over like Leone did, and slowly made her way near her face, closing her eyes and puckering her lips slightly. It was only a moment later that she connected with her target, feeling a much lower temperature than the last time she was checked, the fever had finally gone away.

"Akame?" A voice whispered, almost silently.

"Voila!" Leone laughed, "The princess awakens from her eternal slumber!"

Akame slowly pulled away from the girl, opening her eyes and meeting with Skyrah's now opened eyes.

Akame noticed the huge blush across her comrades face, and her slightly agape mouth.

"W-what are… Y-you doing?" She asked, her voice quiet and confused.

The two found themselves in a kind of trance, just like the other night they had shared together, staring into each other's eyes. Skyrah saw tears in Akame's eyes.

"I've seen so many of my friends die." Akame said suddenly, tears falling out of her eyes onto the bed. "Bulat, Sheele, Chelsea, Lubbock, Susanoo, almost Mine and Tatsumi… I don't want to see you die too." She said, falling onto Skyrah and embracing her. "So please, don't die."

Skyrah had never seen Akame cry, she didn't like it one bit. She embraced back, holding her comrade and friend tightly.

"I'm not going to die, I have people to come back to." She said, looking up at Leone, who gave her a big smile. "With those people backing me up, I'll never die."

The group was happy to see Skyrah back up and moving around like normal. Her body had made a complete recovery, the only thing left being the scar on her stomach and back, which would hopefully fade over time. Although the team was quite talkative to her, she hardly talked, and seemed to get lost in thought, sometimes for minutes, sometimes for up to an hour.

"Skyrah." A finger snapped.

Skyrah's eyes focused on the hand in front of her face. It was Leone, who put her hand under the younger girl's chin, lifting it up so they made eye contact.

Her eyes were as bright as normal, but they seemed different somehow.

"Leone." She replied.

"What's up with you?" She asked, crossing her arms. "We're kind of worried."

Skyrah looked back at the floor, leaning forward in her seat. "Do you know who Wild Hunt is?" She asked.

Leone knelt down, making eye contact again. Her eyes were serious, almost angry.

"If you are thinking about going after them, none of us will let you." She deadpanned, locking eyes with Skyrah.

Skyrah stared at Leone for a moment, noticing her seriousness. "The man who killed my class is one of them."

Leone's eyes widened. "Look, kid, I know you want to go after him." She said, pausing for a moment. "But you wouldn't stand a chance against Champ, let alone the rest of Wild Hunt."

Skyrah grit her teeth and squeezed her fists together. "This is the most information I've ever gotten on the bastard, I can't just let him fade away again." She said.

Leone stood up and crossed her arms. "I have a mission to spy on them soon, you can come with me." She said, suddenly pointing down at Skyrah. "But we aren't attacking anyone unless we have a clear opening. I am leading us." She explained.

Skyrah stood up, wearing the same serious expression as Leone. "I got it."

"You sure?" Leone asked, raising an eyebrow. "One false move could mean our lives."

Skyrah nodded. "I'm sure."

It was now clear to Skyrah how seriously Leone took her job, and just how tedious it could be. She knew the mission they were on was dangerous, and she had prepared herself for that, mentally and physically, but Leone was on a completely different level. The two stalked across the rooftops, silently moving through the little moonlight they had.

Najenda had provided them with little to go off of, but the two had made it work as well as they could. Wild Hunt supposedly were heading to a prison, what they were doing there was unknown, it would possibly turn into another Umatora Incident. If it did, Leone and Skyrah's chances of coming out on top after intervening were very slim.

The stories about Umatora sickened Skyrah, the massacre and rape of many innocent people. She had never heard anything as sickening as that overseas, where the governments were in times of peace and crime was low. It was worse that these people were supposed to be a police force, and they got away with any injustice they did.

Leone and Skyrah finally reached the outside of the prison, where they sat atop a nearby rooftop, waiting for Wild Hunt to show themselves.

"We could be here for awhile." Leone whispered, sitting down, keeping her eyes trained on the entrance to the prison and the area around it. "Might want to get comfortable."

Just as she said that, the doors swung open, a prison guard being thrown out with the doors.

"What the hell?" Leone said. "They shouldn't even be here!"

Sure enough, Wild Hunt's Cosmina and Enshin made their way out, with someone else behind them.

"Should've known they'd be after her." Leone said, eying the girl from above, where only the top of her head could be seen.

"Who is she?" Skyrah asked, trying to get a better look at the other girl.

Leone sighed. "While you were out, she came to the Capital by boat and went on a rampage through town, killing people as she tried to find someone named 'Sissy' or something." She explained. "She killed dozens, but Tatsumi intervened and stopped her." Leone turned to Skyrah. "He told us that her she took hits without trying to dodge and ignored pain, so she charged at him without fear."

"No." Skyrah said, standing up on the roof and taking a closer look at the girl, noticing her flowing blonde hair and strange skip-walk. "I know her, she's looking for me."

"What?" Leone jumped up and grabbed Skyrah by her shoulders. "Who is she?"

"When I was overseas, a younger, foreign girl took a liking to me and began to call me 'Sissy'." She revealed. "She had a Teigu replace her heart when she was born, the people who she grew up with were scientists, and tried to reveal the power of the dormant Teigu with the girl, and it worked."

Leone stared a Skyrah with wide eyes. "How could she live without a heart?"

"She has a heart, but it's not human, and makes it very hard for her to interact with people. Her first friend was me when I arrived at the camp, she saw a similarity between us." Skyrah looked down at her arm. "We both have a Teigu that is a part of our body, that fact drew her very close to me." Skyrah squeezed her fists. "I helped her make a few friends, and then I had to leave, I thought she would be okay."

"I guess 'Ratel' decided she needed you." Leone said, still watching the event below.

"Ratel?" Her companion asked.

"It's a word for Honey Badger, the media gave the name to her from her resistance to attacks." Leone answered. "Hell, they even shot her and it didn't pierce her skin, the bullets just bounced off."

"Her name is Mia Valion, and her Teigu is Unbesiegbar: Unbreakable Will, it makes her impervious to most attacks, blades, bullets, fists, you name it." She explained, making Leone grit her teeth in frustration.

"How can somebody do this to a little girl?" Leone asked.

Skyrah turned back to the scene down below, the guard was on his feet wielding a shortsword, pointing at his three adversaries.

"I don't know who you people are…" His voice was shaking with fear. "But I can't let you take the prisoner!" He charged at the three, raising his sword as he ran.

"You can't keep me from Sissy!" Mia rushed forward, the sword slamming into her left shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

Mia stared into the eyes of the guard with a grin on her face. The guard stared at her in horror.

"Die!" Mia pressed her hands together and rushed the forwards, slamming them into her opponents chest and carving right through, her now bloody hands emerging from his back.

Skyrah's eyes widened, this wasn't the Mia she had spent so much time with.

"Oh, I can feel your spine." Mia said to her victim, lifting him off of his feet despite her much smaller size. "You probably can't breathe, my hands went through your lungs." She smiled maniacally, bringing the guard close as he began to cough, kissing him passionately.

When she pulled away, she licked her now bloody lips. "You dog, it must excite you to kiss a foreigner." She said, kissing him again and again, pressing her knee gently between his legs.

The man desperately tried to breathe, but Mia kept her lips against his, making him squirm for a few moments and fall dead, impaled by her arms.

She dropped him without remorse, turning back to Enshin and Cosmina, who both seemed happy with her display.

"She's… sick." Skyrah whispered. "I've never seen her like this, she always had such an interest in humans."

"Humans?" Leone asked. "The way you say it makes it seem like you don't think she's human."

Skyrah turned to Leone. "She isn't, Leone, she never considered herself even close to human." She said. "That Teigu that Najenda used to own, Susanoo. She's close to that."

"Like Susanoo…" Leone thought for a moment. "That means she had a core, which can be destroyed, thus killing her too."

"We can't kill her!" Skyrah said, angered. "She's my friend, if I can talk to her-"

Leone covered Skyrah's mouth, then pointed down to the body of the guard. " _That_ is your friend?" She asked. "She doesn't look too friendly to me."

Skyrah looked down at the group below them, who had just began to walk away.

"We need to go back and tell everyone about this, following them won't give us anything else." Leone said, pulling Skyrah with her as she moved to another rooftop, beginning their long way back to Night Raid's base.

Skyrah turned back for a moment, seeing a figure on the roof they had stopped on.

"Sissy!" The figure darted through the night, running towards her and Leone. "I can smell her perfume!" Mia said with glee.

"Wait up, kid!" Enshin and Cosmina tried to follow behind, but couldn't keep up with any of the three.

"She hasn't spotted us." Leone said as her and Skyrah rushed along the rooftops, weaving through tight spaces, veering off the path they took to get there, hoping to throw the maniacal girl giving chase off their trail.

"This way!" Skyrah dove between two chimney's, sliding down the opposite walls down into an alley, Leone following quickly behind, beginning to notice the part of town they were heading into.

"Uh, Skyrah, we're almost in the slums." She warned. "We won't be able to get on the rooftops, they won't support our weight."

"Then lets just stick to the ground, we can lose her in an alley or something." Skyrah said, tearing her shirt off and throwing it in the opposite direction from where they were heading.

"I don't think now is the time to strip, kid." Leone said, confused by Skyrah's tactic.

"She said she could smell my perfume, it's probably pretty strong on my shirt, don't you think?" She said with a grin.

Leone took the lead, hopping through an open windowsill and leading Skyrah through a house, breaking out of a window on the opposite side of the building.

"It feels like the walls are closing in on us." Skyrah said, breathing heavily.

"They are, we're almost out of the Slums." Leone said, picking up her pace.

Skyrah sped up to match Leone, suddenly getting ahead of her.

"Stop!"

Skyrah felt the ground underneath her disappear, as she looked down, she noticed the sheer drop into complete darkness, which she was now falling towards.

Leone grabbed her arm, falling down onto the ground right next to the hole, holding Skyrah up.

"That's a straight hole down into the sewers." Leone said, pulling Skyrah up to safety.

Leone and Skyrah heaved for air, leaning against the side of a building.

"I think we lost her." Skyrah said, laughing quietly to herself.

"Yeah, no way she kept up." Leone said, sharing a laugh with her comrade.

The duo waited for awhile, then made their way back to Night Raid's base, leaving Wild Hunt behind.

Meanwhile, Mia walked slowly through the Capital with Enshin and Cosmina, clutching a shirt close to her chest and face, breathing into it, the scent was familiar, and she knew Skyrah was out there, but she had let her escape.

But next time, things would be different.


	7. Chapter 7: Kill The Intruder

**Chapter 7**

 **Kill The Intruder**

Mia stared at the wall blankly, clutching a ripped cloth in her hands, much to all of Wild Hunt's dismay.

Dorothea leaned in to Cosmina, whispering in her ear. "I think she's a little weak in the head." She said. "You sure she's ready to be in Wild Hunt?"

Cosmina chuckled nervously and walked over to the young girl, sitting beside her.

"Is something interesting happening in that head of yours?" Cosmina questioned, tapping the girl on top of her head.

Mia turned her head, looking into Cosmina's eyes.

"You look just like Sissy when she had short hair" She said suddenly. "You're very pretty."

Cosmina lunged forwards crying out with glee and wrapping her arms around the girl. "She's perfect, I love her!"

The rest of Wild Hunt shared a sigh.

"Just how old are you, kid?" Enshin asked.

"I'm fourteen." She said, still being hugged by Cosmina.

Enshin's jaw dropped. "But… you're so… mature." His eyes dropped down to her chest, which was hardly covered by her outfit.

Mia lunged out of Cosmina's arms, smashing her fist into Enshin's long nose, dropping him immediately.

"Sissy told me when a human looks at my breasts, it's a sign of perversion, you eyed both me and Cosmina's just a few seconds apart from each other, and Dorothea's a little before that." Mia said, her voice deadpan. "So you must be a triple pervert." She said.

"H-how did you-"

Dorothea and Cosmina both covered their chests, looking down at Enshin in anger.

"Don't say anything unless it's an apology, pervert." Mia said, leaning over him. "They are D's, so you have no reason to look at them and guess any more."

Both Cosmina and Dorothea's jaws dropped.

Enshin wiped the blood away from his face. "You think you can boss me around, bitch?!" Enshin stood up and slapped Mia across the face.

Mia turned back, the red mark on her face fading quickly. "Do you feel better now?"

Enshin's jaw dropped for a second time.

"She's perfect!" Cosmina cheered again, draping her arms over the girl from behind and holding her tightly.

Champ suddenly walked in, immediately laying eyes on the girl. "She must be the newbie." He said, stalking over her with a maniacal grin on his face. "So how about a hazing from me?" His eyes sparkled with malice, getting closer and closer to the girl.

"A clown." Mia stared up at the fat man with a bored look. "I'm beginning to think you all are a bunch of cliches."

Champ raised an eyebrow.

"A pedophilic clown, an evil little girl, an overly sexualized woman, and…" She pointed at Enshin, but said nothing for a moment. "A pervert."

Enshin fell back, feeling confused and hurt that they were all summed up pretty accurately by someone who hardly knew them.

Champ jumped atop the girl, who fell back and looked as bored as ever.

"You're a mean little bitch, aren't you?" Champ shouted, his breath making Mia want to puke.

"Little could mean many things, coming from someone like you." Mia pulled her arm away from Champ's grip and placed it around his throat, squeezing.

Champ was pushed upwards and lifted off the ground as Mia got to her feet, gasping for air and resisting her grip.

Wild Hunt was lost for words, Mia, despite her age and size, was easily lifting someone multiple times her size like he was a doll.

"Stop squirming, the fat around your neck makes choking you hard enough as it is." Mia said, remorse nowhere to be seen in her eyes.

"Drop him!" Dorothea pulled a gun on Mia, aiming it directly at the size of her head.

"He meant to defile me." Mia said, her voice emotionless as ever. "I'm merely defending myself."

"I won't allow him to!" Dorothea said, "I'm in charge here, so drop him now!"

Mia faced Dorothea, the gun she had was now right between her eyes, as if validating Dorothea's words, eventually she turned back and looked at Champ, still struggling for air.

"Disgusting insect." She insulted, throwing him aside and sitting back down near Cosmina.

Cosmina jumped on her again, repeating the group how perfect she was.

Enshin stared suspiciously at the young girl, who had recently returned to staring at the wall. She was a mystery, and he wanted to crack that mystery no matter what it took.

"Stop staring at me, Pervert."

Enshin shook, the girl still hadn't turned around to even look at him. "Do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?!" He shouted.

"It must seem like that, huh, Pervert?" Mia mocked.

Enshin almost popped a blood vessel upon hearing his new nickname again, but ended up leaving the room, followed by Champ, who was still breathing heavily.

"You and me are going to be great friends!" Cosmina laughed, squeezing Mia in a hug.

Dorothea looked at the back of Mia's head, narrowing her eyes at the mysterious girl. She didn't know what, but she felt something big coming, and whatever it was, Mia would be right in the center of it.

The next day, Night Raid had gathered in the most central part of their base, each of them with their eyes on Skyrah.

"So you're telling us you think you can just calm her down?" Najenda asked, her arms crossed. "And you plan on doing it by yourself, with no backup?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but I am sure I can help her see what she's doing, and get her on our side." Skyrah said, trying her best to reason with the rest of the group.

"It's suicide, Wild Hunt isn't just going to let her take their new member." Tatsumi said to Najenda. "I can't go along with this plan." He said.

"I agree." Mine said, "You're just going to get yourself killed, by your friend or Wild Hunt."

Akame nodded, showing she was also against the plan.

"Don't you think she sounded dangerous when she chased us?" Leone asked, turning to Skyrah. "It was like she was chasing prey, rather than wanting to kiss and make up with you."

Skyrah grit her teeth. "I can't just let her stay like that."

"We don't have much of a choice in the matter." Najenda said. "Clearly she's different than the girl you left overseas."

"What about the rest of Wild Hunt?" Skyrah asked. "When are they going to pay for what they've done?"

Najenda looked around at the rest of Night Raid. "We'd inevitably have a casualty, I can't risk losing any of you." Their leader looked to the floor, she didn't want any more of her friend's blood on her hands.

"We'd be talking about a full-scale attack on Wild Hunt, the Jaegers would definitely intervene." Akame explained. "We haven't lead anything like that since our assault on the capital, and we almost lost Tatsumi and Leone there." Akame remembered the fight with Shikoutazer, which had almost claimed Tatsumi's life.

"No doubt Esdeath would be there too." Tatsumi said. "The Jaegers and Wild Hunt could just gang up on us, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"Do the Jaegers and Wild Hunt get along?" Skyrah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Mine said, closing her eyes. "But they have a common enemy."

Skyrah grabbed the sides of her head in frustration. "Damn it!" She shouted, feeling stuck.

"I'm sorry Skyrah, but we aren't ready for something like that again, neither is the Revolutionary Army." Najenda said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But we can try to get your friend back. Together."

All of Night Raid shared a smile, directed at Skyrah. Skyrah followed suit.

"You guys are-"

"Sissy!" Skyrah was suddenly tackled from behind, a light weight on her back.

Mia squeezed her tightly excited that she finally got to see her Sissy again.

"Wha… How did you-" Najenda was speechless, as was the rest of the group.

Skyrah got to her feet, the girl still clinging onto her back.

"Mia! Let go of me!" Mia immediately obeyed, swinging in front of Skyrah, smiling wide.

"I finally found you, Sissy!" Mia cheered happily, standing dead center of all of Night Raid's members.

The young girl had a dull grey tank top on with a bright red bowtie around her neck, along with skin-tight black pants with black boots on. Her blonde hair had small curls in it, and reached down to the middle of her back.

"How?" Skyrah asked, grabbing the young girl by her shoulders. "Did anyone follow you?!"

"None of those asshats can catch me, Sissy, you should know that." Mia's eyes suddenly widened, she covered her mouth with one hand. "Sorry, language."

"I… How did you find me?" Skyrah refused to let go of Mia.

"Not many people smell like lilacs and metal, Sissy." Mia said with a wink, inhaling loudly. "I can tell your perfume from anyone's."

All of Night Raid was tense, although Mia had said she didn't have anyone following her, she could very well be lying.

"How do we know you aren't lying about being followed?" Najenda asked, ready for a fight. "Don't you belong to Wild Hunt?"

Mia turned to Najenda, she put a finger on the side of her face, thinking about it. "That's what Enshin said this morning, that I belonged to him now." She said, smiling innocently. "Just before I killed him."

Night Raid was taken aback. "You killed Wild Hunt's leader?" Najenda asked, her eyes wide.

"He should have known better than to try and own his superior." She said. "I put my hands into his chest and mixed up his insides, he looked so scared!" She laughed loudly, expecting to be joined by the group around her.

Night Raid just stared in disbelief at the laughing girl.

"Wow, you guys are some real buzzkills." Mia deadpanned. "Cosmina told me none of you guys liked to have any fun."

"Cosmina?" Najenda thought for a moment, then she felt panic rise in her stomach. "Mia, Cosmina is not your friend, she's using you." Najenda had heard stories of the particular member of Wild Hunt, who used her voice to manipulate people into doing what she wanted.

Mia looked confused. "Using me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "She was the one who saved me."

Skyrah let go of Mia, backing away her. "Saved you?"

"Back at home, she came there just after you left, Sissy." Mia explained. "She looked just like you did when you first came."

Skyrah panicked, fear welled up in her mind. "What did she do there?"

"She told me I wasn't using my full strength, and helped me show it to everyone else." Mia said with a smile on her face. "We gave a big performance to everyone at the temple."

Skyrah grabbed Mia, holding her against the wall. "What did you do?!" She shouted in Mia's face.

"I showed our teachers and the rest of the students my new strength." She smiled. "We killed the lot of them, they were too weak to witness my strength."

All of Night Raid readied their weapons.

"There were kids there!" Skyrah shouted.

"They loved it more than the adults, the cheered so loudly as I got to them too!" Mia laughed maniacally. "You should have seen the looks on their faces!"

Skyrah reared back, swinging her fist towards Mia's face.

Mia slid out of Skyrah's grip with ease, slowly facing her.

"Stay out of this!" Skyrah shouted at the rest of Night Raid.

Mia frowned. "I thought you'd be proud of me, Sissy, you always told me to be proud of my strength." She got into a fighting stance. "Show me how strong you've gotten."

Without hesitation, Skyrah rushed in, slamming her fist right into Mia's core, making her slide backwards a few feet.

"Good!" Mia said happily, taking the punch without fear. "You're as fast as ever!" She laughed.

"Shut your mouth!" Skyrah swung again, but her fist was caught by Mia's hand.

Mia frowned again. "Come on Skyrah, show me your real strength!"

Mia jumped up on Skyrah's shoulders, digging her sharp fingernails into her opponent's scalp.

Skyrah grabbed Mia by the sides of her body, falling down onto her knees and slamming Mia into the ground back-first.

Blood dripped down Skyrah's face from the new wounds on her face.

"Use Limit Break, Sissy, come on!" Mia laughed, hopping up and kicking Skyrah across the face.

"Why isn't she using her Teigu?" Mine asked, watching the fight.

"She's measuring her strength." Akame answered, focused on the fight. "Just like in our fight."

Skyrah rushed Mia again, getting easily smacked away. Before she could recover, she was picked up by the hair on the back of her head, getting slammed into the ground, causing the floor to splinter and break, throwing scraps of wood away from the floor.

Skyrah let out a cry of pain and was slammed back into the same place.

"Come on Sissy, you know you can't beat me like this."

She knew Mia was right, sparring with her when she was overseas was hard enough, but it felt like her power had been doubled since they last fought. Her body was thrown to the side, making her bounce off of a wall, where she pushed herself to her feet.

"I can take you." Skyrah said with a grin, blood dripping from the cut in her lip.

Mia frowned again, narrowing her eyes at Skyrah.

"Then beat this!" Mia charged Skyrah, for the first time in the fight going on the offensive. She rammed Skyrah into the wall behind her, the stone cracking and blowing apart as she impacted it.

"Skyrah!" Akame took a step forward, unsheathing Murasame.

Skyrah looked over with fire in her eyes. "I said stay out of this!" She yelled, making Akame stop dead in her tracks.

"Don't worry, I'll kill them after I'm done with you!" Mia laughed, pinning Skyrah to the wall and pummeling her with a volley of fast punches.

Skyrah caught both of Mia's fists and pushed against the younger girl. "Please stop, this isn't like you." She begged, blood pouring from her mouth.

Mia grit her teeth, trying to break free from Skyrah's grasp. "I'm not weak anymore!" She shouted.

"I know that!" Skyrah shouted, tears streaming from her eyes. "You've proven your strength, so stop!"

"Not until you stop breathing!" Mia shouted, finally getting a fist free and striking Skyrah across the face, making her let go completely.

Skyrah fell face-first into the ground, her blood streamed off of her face, mixing with the trails of tears.

"She's trying to hold back, but she's close to breaking." Tatsumi said, knowing just what that felt like.

Akame nodded, hearing the growing anger in Skyrah's voice.

"You always told me… you'd never hurt humans like your heart wanted to." Skyrah whispered as she pushed herself up. "You told me you were stronger than that evil in your heart."

"I'm stronger than you when I embrace it!" Mia said, kicking at Skyrah, but getting her leg caught.

Skyrah squeezed her leg.

"I'll give you one more chance to come back… to me." She said, looking at Mia with a weak smile. "We can be sisters again."

Mia laughed. "I won't trade this power for anything!" She jumped off of her remaining foot, trying to kick Skyrah again, but was caught by another hand.

"This was your decision, remember that." Skyrah said softly, closing her eyes.

When her eyes opened again, her pupils were the size of pinpricks, and her expression changed from friendly to rage.

Skyrah spun on her heel, using Mia's body like a ragdoll and scraping her against the stone wall, causing a trail of destroyed rock before finally finishing her spin and throwing her at the outer wall of the building sending her soaring through the wall and out of the building, rolling across the ground before grinding to a halt.

"Loputon Voima: 250 percent!" Skyrah yelled. "Infinite Blitz!"

Night Raid stared in awe as Skyrah's arms changed shape, a silver, liquid substance flowed down her arms and legs from the space where they connected and began to take shape, armoring over her appendages and creating multiple upgrades, her knuckles had grown small spikes, ancient lettering engraved itself in the metal, her legs were much bulkier, and piston-like machines went down the back of her legs and the tops of her arms, primed and looking ready to fire.

"What is this?!" Najenda asked in disbelief.

"Loputon Voima's Trump Card... It armored her body more… but what are the pistons for?" Leone followed up.

Skyrah took a step, right as her foot touched the ground, the piston fired and retracted, boosting her out of the new hole in the wall and outside the base.

Night Raid rushed outside, getting their eye on the two brawling girls.

Skyrah was not only using the pistons for mobility, but also as secondary means of combat. She sprung around Mia, who desperately tried to fight her off. Skyrah charged in, when her fist connect to Mia's body, the piston on her arm fired, just like her legs. Mia was taken aback by the sheer power of the girl she thought she had on the ropes.

"I won't let you kill me, or my friends!" Skyrah yelled in a fit of rage, pounding at Mia's helpless body. Wherever Mia tried to block, Skyrah had already hit her in another area, wherever she tried to dodge, she was pulled back and hit even harder.

Without giving Mia time to react, Skyrah had jumped up, kicking Mia in the stomach, letting the pistons on her legs blow the defenseless girl across the battlefield. Without even allowing her to stop rolling, Mia was once again assaulted by a volley of piston punches and kicks, making her scream out in pain.

Skyrah had not only caused pain on Mia's body, she had made her bruise and bleed from the power of her hits.

"Witness the power of my Golem blood!" Skyrah said, rearing her fist back, ready to put all of her force into one single punch.

Mia's eyes shrunk in fear, Skyrah had beaten her in every physical aspect, there was no question in that matter. But she had also caused pure fear to course through Mia's veins.

As she helplessly waited for the full-force strike to come, her eyes began to not see Skyrah before her, but a colossal beast, what looked to her like a living mountain, a body made of rock and black metal. It had an arm the size of a mansion, moving at breakneck speed directed right at her puny body.

She screamed as the massive arm collided with her, blowing her back and crushing her bones.

Night Raid watched as the girl, just hit by Skyrah's punch, was thrown through the forest, collapsing multiple trees before finally stopping.

Skyrah dropped to one knee, heaving for breath. "100 percent." She said.

The newly acquired upgrades to her arms and legs liquified once again and reversed their movement up her arms and legs, and back into her body.

As Night Raid reached her, they slowly helped her up and helped her walk over to the spot where Mia had come to a stop, finding an empty hole with a trail of blood leading off into the forest.

"Let her go." Skyrah said as the group planned to chase her.

"What?" Mine cried. "She's weak and knows where our base is!"

"I'll take her down when the time comes." She said, glaring out into the woods. "The base is safe, she won't tell anyone about tonight, either." She finished, standing up on her own.

"How can you be sure of that?" Leone asked.

"I lived with her for almost three years, she never told me a single detail of a fight she lost." Skyrah said. "She's too proud to reveal anything unless it will make her look good."

The rest of Night Raid seemed unconvinced, but they left it at that and made their way back to the base.

"That thing you used in your fight, that was your Trump Card, wasn't it?" Leone asked with a grin.

Skyrah hesitated, but eventually spoke. "Yeah, it is." She said with a weak laugh.

Skyrah faced the ground, remembering the kind girl she had left behind to come back to her home. It hurt to think that the girl she had reminded to be kind and never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it, would lash out so violently to people she knew. People she cared about. She had become a puppet of Cosmina, and would desperately need to be taken down before causing any more trouble.


	8. Chapter 8: Kill Your Heart

**Chapter 8**

 **Kill Your Heart**

Her eyes opened, but she was met with darkness. Akame didn't know what had woken her, but she could almost guarantee she had heard something. She waited for a few moments, staring up at her barely lit ceiling, and after a few minutes, she rolled over in her bed, closing her eyes and burrowing under her covers. A dream, no doubt.

Then she heard it again, an almost near silent creak of wood.

Thoughts rushed through Akame's mind, it could be an intruder from Wild Hunt, it could have just been the building, or possibly someone going through the halls in the night, someone could just be thirsty.

Again, the same sound.

Akame slowly rose from her bed, careful not to make any noise.

She grabbed Murasame, readying it as she slowly opened her door. With careful steps, she peered out into the dimly lit hallway, looking both ways and making sure nobody was there before she stepped out herself.

Her heart rate grew gradually as she slowly made her way down the hallway, listening for the sound to come back, or for someone to jump out at her.

The creak came from inside Skyrah's bedroom door. As Akame neared the door, she leaned up against it, putting her ear against the cold wooden surface.

Without hearing any response, she slowly twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open slowly until it was fully open. Her heart quickly slowed down as she just saw Skyrah sitting there, but the rose again as she noticed Skyrah was facing a mirror with her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face.

Akame closed the door behind her and put down Murasame, walking to Skyrah's side kneeling next to her.

"Skyrah, what's wrong?" Akame asked, putting her hand on Skyrah's.

"Just go away, Akame." Skyrah balled up her hand into a fist, but Akame held on.

"My friend is crying, I'm not just going to go away." Akame said, pulling up another chair and sitting next to her.

Skyah stayed silent for a moment, then opened her teary eyes and looked at Akame. "Look at me." She said. "I'm a failure."

Akame frowned. "You aren't a failure." She said, squeezing Skyrah's hand.

"Mia wants me dead, she killed everyone at our temple, the people I swore I would come back to if they needed me, for protection, or anything." She explained. "I have more bodies of children on my conscience now, and their blood was spilled by the person I trained."

"Skyrah, what Mia did is not your fault, you had no idea something like that could happen." Akame said softly, wiping Skyrah's tears away. "Cosmina did this to her, not you."

"But how long is it before I get you all killed?" Skyrah asked, her face being held up by Akame's hands "I don't want to see anyone else I care about die."

"We aren't going to die." Akame said with a smile. She very well knew she could be lying, but Skyrah needed hope to hang on to, and telling her that any one of them could die wasn't going to give her anything. "We're a family, we won't let each other down." Akame leaned over and hugged Skyrah, holding her tightly.

Skyrah offered a weak smile, she noticed how fast Akame's heart was beating, and quickly realized that her state wasn't only affecting her, but Akame too.

When the two came apart, the legs of the chairs below them were interlocked with each other, and made the two girls fall back into each other.

Skyrah's heart rate increased further, and Akame noticed as she pulled away for a second time, her heart had too.

"Akame…" Skyrah said softly, a blush forming on her face.

The duo's heartbeat seemed to match each other's as they came close again, this time holding one another in a tight embrace.

The young assassins had never felt like this before. Skyrah felt like her heart was going to explode, her face had gotten hot in the strange situation, and the heat quickly spread through the rest of her body, her brain focused on the face in front of her's. The beautiful crimson eyes sparkling in the moonlight, the pale, hot skin of Akame's against hers, it felt strangely right, like everything had fallen into place all at once.

Skyrah closed her eyes and leaned her face in towards Akame's, tenderly touching the veteran assassin's lips with her own, leaning into the sweet taste in her mouth. She had a very light taste of fruit lingering on her lips, but it made no difference to her. Akame was surprised by the sudden gesture, but ended up falling into it herself, lightly pushing back at Skyrah's advance. Akame slowly rose out of her seat, never breaking the kiss but adjusting herself so she was now sitting on Skyrah's lap, backwards in the chair.

The two broke apart for only a brief second and leaned back into the kiss, holding each other's hands tightly as they enjoyed every moment of the long, blissful and loving kiss. The tongue's of each girl began to invade each other's mouths, wrapping and rolling around each other during the sensual embrace.

During their battle for dominance over one another, the two fell out of the chair onto the ground, Akame landing on top and brushing her hair out of the way before going in for another, keeping Skyrah down on her back and holding her arms down against the floor like the two had previously done to each other in different circumstances.

Skyrah showed no intention to fight the gesture, and let Akame hold her there as time went by. It had been only about two minutes, but it had felt like they had been drifting through time for ages, lost to anything around them but each other.

Eventually, the two separated, breathing heavily as they both took in as much air as they could. But they did not continue, they just stared at each other's faces, taking in the beauty of the moment. They both shared a blush as they met each other's eyes.

Akame leaned down again, pecking Skyrah on the lips and trailing the kisses down the side of her neck.

"Akame…" Skyrah moaned softly.

"Mmm?" Akame questioned, trying her best not to fall back into a kiss.

"I think I'm in love." She confessed, breaking out of Akame's grip and pulling her down into a hug, where the two shared a short kiss.

"With who exactly?" Akame teased, embracing Skyrah without a kiss.

"Hopefully you, unless I've mistaken your voice…" Skyrah slowly trailed her hands up Akame's fit body. "... and body with someone else."

Akame shuddered a little at the touch, feeling a little ticklish.

"Nope, it's me." Akame said, squeezing tighter. "I think I love you too."

"I know I'm not a boy…" Skyrah said softly, being immediately silenced by Akame's lips.

"Hush, I don't care about that." Akame said, kissing Skyrah again. "I care about you, not your gender."

Skyrah smiled brightly, a blush growing on her face as she pulled Akame into another long kiss.

Akame pulled Skyrah up and the two fell onto the bed together. Holding each other close.

"What do we tell the others?" Skyrah asked.

"The truth." Akame answered simply. "That we love each other."

The two slowly drifted off to sleep, contemplating how the group would react the next day.

Unfortunately for them, it was not the response they were expecting.

Or, rather the complete _lack_ of response from any of their members.

Najenda just stared at the two with a blush, Leone glared at Tatsumi with an 'I told you so' kind of look, Tatsumi also had a small blush and kept clearing his throat to say something, without ever doing so, and Mine just looked really confused.

"I don't have a problem with it..." Tatsumi finally broke the silence, Mine struck him over the head.

"You perv!" Mine shouted, a blush crossing her face.

"I didn't mean _that!_ " Tatsumi said, rubbing his head in pain. "I meant that the two are in a relationship."

Najenda nodded. "I don't think any of us have a problem, we're just glad you told us."

"I called it!" Leone shouted, laughing. "Didn't I Tatsumi?!"

"I'll give you money later, you don't have to rub it in!"

"You two bet on us." Skyrah deflated, falling to the floor like a sack of potatoes. "Fantastic."

Akame looked confused. "I'm going to make breakfast." She said, walking out of the room like nothing had happened.

"I confessed to her and she just left me here like this." Skyrah deadpanned, dramatically throwing her arms up. "Alone and helpless."

The rest of the group smacked their hands against their faces.

"So Najenda, about the mission…" Mine said, crossing her arms and facing her boss.

"Yes?" Najenda asked.

"When you first gave it to us, you said it was going to be me and Tatsumi…" Mine said slowly. "Then you put Skyrah with us." She deadpanned.

"Don't act like I'm some kind of loser!" Skyrah shouted from across the room where she still lay in a heap on the floor.

"What's the problem?" Najenda asked.

Mine dropped to her knees. "The one time me and Tatsumi were going to get some alone time, traveling up a mountain, just the two of us, someone got put with us." She envisioned a beautiful mountain landscape, just her and Tatsumi, free to do whatever they wanted together, then the landscape was trampled by a giant version of Skyrah. "I'm just a little upset, that's all."

Najenda chuckled to herself for a moment. "Alone time with Tatsumi, eh?" She said, eyeing Mine. "Were you planning something that you two can't do here without being caught?" Najenda asked.

Mine immediately put the pieces together, her face and Tatsumi's going red with embarrassment.

"N-n-no!" Mine shouted, throwing up her arms, like she was trying to prove her innocence. "I wasn't thinking of anything like that!"

"Good." Najenda said, turning away from the two. "I don't want anymore complaints about the mission, got it?"

"Got it!" Tatsumi and Mine said in unison, Skyrah only held up her arm from her place on the ground, giving a thumbs up to Najenda.

"Excellent." Najenda made her way out of the central room and into the kitchen.

Leone and Skyrah had worked together for a few hours with few words between them, the two had been carrying in loads of supplies that Najenda had gotten from the Revolutionary Army. Bags upon bags of flour, sugar, plus other random supplies for around the base, including furniture and clothing for all members were being unloaded by the two girls.

What they hadn't yet been told was that somebody else from the Army would being joining Night Raid that day. So it came as a surprise when a stranger approached them as they worked.

"Hello, you all should be Leone and Skyrah." The boy nodded, smiling happily at the two.

He was dressed rather strange, he wore a black leather jacket with a plain white t-shirt underneath, along with baggy black pants and worn grey tennis shoes. He also had very long hair and bangs that almost covered his eyes. He spoke with small errors and had a strange accent that neither of the girls could place. He was obviously from overseas, but not from where Skyrah was from, possibly from North America. Rather than the European country Skyrah had been to.

" _Are you from an English speaking country?"_ Skyrah asked in English. _"Sorry, it just sounds like you're a robot when talking in Japanese."_

He gave a weak smile and nodded. _"I'm really trying my hardest, I've only been here for three years now."_ He replied in the same language. _"Are you from England?"_ He picked up on her strange way of speaking English.

Skyrah shook her head. _"No, I've spent some time over there and learned the language."_ She said.

"What the hell is happening right now?" Leone asked, confused. "Are you two speaking gibberish?"

"It's English, Leone." Skyrah said.

"I didn't know you spoke English, Skyrah!" Leone said happily.

Skyrah raised an eyebrow. "I went to an English speaking country with English speaking people for almost three years." She deadpanned. "How would I not?"

Leone laughed and wrapped her arm around Skyrah's neck, obviously angered by the sarcasm.

"So, who are you, kid?" She asked, gripping tightly around her friend's neck.

"I'm Owl." He said, pushing up his bangs to reveal the Spectator Teigu once used by Zank The Executioner. "My real name is Rhys, but they gave me that name in the Military because of this." He tapped on the Teigu and it flashed open.

"What's it do?" Skyrah asked, crossing her arms.

Rhys noticed a clash of metal as Skyrah crossed her arms, but saw no metal on the sleeves of her large blue sweater, or her white gloves. So he decided to use his Teigu for a moment to look under her clothing, something he had done many times with the girls in the military, nobody knew what the Teigu could do, after all. A small blush appeared on his cheeks as he saw the red laced underwear Skyrah was wearing, her short skirt and leggings were no match for his Spectator, but thoughts of her body and underwear vanished as he saw her arms and legs.

"Earth to Rhys." Leone snapped a finger in front of his face, snapping him back to reality.

Skyrah wore a blush of her own, confused as to why he had stared at her body for so long without talking. "What are you looking at?"

"Your arms…" He said slowly.

Skyrah rolled up her sleeves. "They're metal." She answered. "How did you see them under my…" Skyrah looked up at his Teigu, then back down to him, who seemed to be panicking.

"Wait!" He panicked, putting up his arms in defense. "Don't jump to conclusions here."

"D-did y-you look under my clothes?" She blushed hard, covering herself up with her hands.

Leone's face turned from confusion to anger. "You damn pervert."

"I said don't jump to conclu-!"

Leone smacked him into the wall with a swift punch to the head, knocking him out cold.

Najenda appeared seconds later. "What the hell was that?" She asked, seeing the boy against the wall.

"He's a pervert, Najenda!" Skyrah hid behind a bag of flour. "Throw him out!"

Najenda rubbed her brow. "This is the new member of Night Raid, girls." She said slowly. "So knocking him out when you first meet isn't really the nicest welcome."

"Looking under my clothes isn't a way to say hello either." Skyrah said in anger.

Najenda leaned down and took the Teigu off of his forehead, putting it in her pocket.

"Tatsumi just warned me about that feature, I am sorry." Najenda said, grabbing him by his collar and dragging him along as he slowly came to. "Welcome to Night Raid, kid."


	9. Chapter 9: Kill Your Heart pt2

**Chapter 9**

 **Kill Your Heart pt.2**

Akame and Leone tried to calm down an embarrassed Skyrah, who had collapsed to her knees, covering her chest with both arms. Leone tried her hardest not to laugh from the dramatic mind games Skyrah was playing with herself, but found herself chuckling multiple times. Akame still hadn't figured out what happened, and couldn't get an answer from a giggling Leone or a broken Skyrah.

"Nobody was supposed to see them…" Skyrah said, gripping her chest harder. "I couldn't find anything else this morning."

Akame raised an eyebrow and went around the back of Skyrah and quickly rose her short skirt, revealing her red lingerie.

Skyrah turned around immediately, pushing her skirt down and glaring daggers at Akame.

"What?" Akame deadpanned, oblivious. "They're cute."

The blush from before quickly rose back onto Skyrah's face, and she swung her arms at Akame, angry and embarrassed tears spraying from the sides of her closed eyes. Akame easily held Skyrah back, still confused as to what she had done.

"You're the worst, Akame!" Skyrah shouted as Leone collapsed in laughter. "Why did you do that?!"

Akame still showed no emotion to Skyrah's embarrassment and dropped her where she was, standing up.

"What are you doing now?" Skyrah asked, looking up at her from her place on the ground.

The black haired girl sighed, grabbing the sides of her skirt.

"Nonononononono!" Skyrah rambled, grabbing Akame's skirt before it could be lifted.

Leone was rolling on the floor, tears of laughter pouring from her eyes. As the couple argued loudly.

"We'll be even." Akame said, fighting against Skyrah's strength.

"No, it's fine!" Skyrah said, looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody else had come. To her horror, Tatsumi stood in the door, his face red with embarrassment.

"U-uh…" Tatsumi said slowly, his body frozen in shock. "What exactly is happening right now?"

Leone, who still had yet to control herself, stood up and pushed him away. Then proceeded to shut the door behind them, just in time to muffle a scream from Skyrah.

"Don't… worry about it… Tatsumi." Leone choked out as she laughed. "Just… girl stuff." This seemed to ignite a new spark in Leone's core, making her fall down again and cackle loudly.

Tatsumi just stood there, dumbfounded.

"Come on, Akame!" Skyrah quickly walked down the street that was crowded with people, turning back to see her girlfriend hardly out of the store they had just shopped at.

She hurried back, pulling her out of the doorway and taking a look at her in the sunlight.

Akame looked gorgeous, but she didn't share the same enthusiasm of being dressed up as Skyrah did.

She wore a red blazer with a simple white shirt under it, along with faded blue jeans and white boots. Her hair had been unchanged, despite Skyrah's asking, it being the only thing she didn't budge on.

Najenda had advised Akame the day before to change her look when going into town, to hopefully clear up her image with the common civilians, who still had remembered the Wanted posters with her face on it. They didn't have anything to fear outside of the Capital, Wild Hunt usually kept to themselves in the castle and the Jaegers were still missing since the last run in with Night Raid. Skyrah took the opportunity and made it into a date, putting herself in charge of helping change Akame's wardrobe of practically the same dress over and over, some just being adapted to different weather.

Skyrah had decided to stay with her default clothing, the large light blue sweater, white gloves, tight brown pants and brown boots, much to Akame's dismay.

"Why is it only me that has to be dressed up?" Akame asked, pulling at her jeans.

"This isn't dressing you up." Skyrah answered, smacking Akame's hand away from her new clothing. "You only dress in one thing."

Akame harrumphed. "Because it's comfortable." She whined, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Well I think you look beautiful." Skyrah said with a big smile, grabbing Akame's hand and pulling her along.

Akame's cheeks became rosy with a blush, the little annoyance she had with Skyrah had been washed away with the compliment.

"Where are we going?" She asked, keeping up with her friend.

"We're getting lunch, you said you were hungry in the store." Skyrah said.

Akame thought back to the dreaded place where Skyrah had her in and out of different outfits every minute just to agree on something they both liked. Akame disliked the amount of white being put in the outfits, and Skyrah disliked the overwhelming amount of black. During the stressful time, Akame tried to get out of the situation and said she was hungry when she really just wanted to leave, and that seemed to speed up her friend, probably from her knowledge of how grumpy Akame was when hungry.

So now she found herself in an overly fancy restaurant that didn't fit either of the two.

"Mine told me this was a good place for…" Skyrah felt a blush come onto her cheeks, and looked over her menu at Akame. "Couples." She finished.

Akame nodded with a smile. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it." She said softly.

It had been made obvious that Skyrah was extremely embarrassed when the two were affectionate towards each other in public, where Akame didn't mind.

The black haired girl looked around, the two had found a corner booth, and the restaurant was pretty empty since they had missed the rush of lunchtime so they were pretty hidden.

Akame picked up her knife the waiter had left them with, then dropped it loudly. "Ow!" She said quietly.

This drew Skyrah's attention, and she put her menu down, leaning over the table. "Are you alri- Mmm?!" Akame quickly shot forward, closing her eyes pressed her lips against Skyrah's, muffling her sentence.

Akame smiled as Skyrah pulled away, the slight taste of her friend's cherry lip gloss on her lips now.

Skyrah's mouth was slightly opened, like she was still trying to say something and her face was bright red.

"Y-y-you can't do that!" Skyrah whispered loudly, hiding her face behind her menu again.

Akame grinned. "This is a date though, isn't it?" She said, bringing Skyrah's menu down and giving her a seductive look. "Couples usually kiss on dates, don't they?" She flashed her eyes a few times, making Skyrah blush more.

"Yes, but…" Skyrah fell short, making Akame giggle.

"You're adorable when you're embarrassed." Akame laughed, waving down a waiter.

As the two ate, they quietly discussed what their plans were afterwards. Skyrah jokingly asked if she could go clothing shopping again, and Akame almost fainted. Akame suggested going to the Theatre, and Skyrah agreed happily, despite not knowing what play they would be acting out that day.

They went and saw a horror play shortly after they had finished eating, like they had decided. The story was about a man in a mask with a giant machete that had drowned when he was young, and resurrected as a psychotic killer, hunting down innocent and guilty victims alike in a place called Camp Diamond Creek. While most of it horrified the girls, other parts where the actors had either messed up lines, or parts where 'dead' actors hurried off stage while the crowd was focused on the character in the spotlight, made them and most of the crowd burst into laughter.

When the play ended, Akame and Skyrah walked out of the theatre holding hands and laughing along with each other.

The sun had almost vanished over the horizon, casting a beautiful orange light over the large town Skyrah and Akame had spent their day in. As the two smiled and laughed with each other, other couples and random people noticed Akame as a member of Night Raid, but smiled as they saw her happy and lacking her normal intimidating attitude.

Anywhere the girls walked, people who knew or didn't know Akame found the couple's good mood to be contagious and had a smile on their face whether or not they wanted to.

The two had eventually calmed down as the sun disappeared and the light of the moon guided them out of the town. They still held hands and stayed close at each other's side, as the night chill came in the wind, Skyrah used her large coat to drape over the both of them. Akame gratefully snuggled against her as they walked, closing her eyes as she leaned her head on Skyrah's shoulder.

"I hope you had a good time, Akame." Skyrah said, a small blush on her cheeks.

"I did, thank you for today." Akame replied, pulling Skyrah's head to the side and kissing her. "I love you." She said as she pulled away.

"I love you too." Skyrah said, smiling as the two walked alone through a wooded area towards Night Raid's hideout.

Neither of them noticed, but in the trees above them, they were being followed.

"Sissy is mine, you bitch." Mia said, gritting her teeth and locking her eyes on Akame, who leaned against Skyrah with affection.

Her body still had yet to recover, but she had managed to live with little help from Wild Hunt, it was only Dorothea that had injected her with some strange medicine and Cosmina who had helped her bandage her broken ribs. The both of them questioned what had happened, and were both told the same thing.

That she had fallen down some stairs.

Both of them had known she was lying to them, but neither questioned her reasoning, they had both been witnesses to what she had done to Enshin. Cosmina even had a strong attachment to her mind, and still was told the same thing, even when trying to coax the answer out of her stubborn brain.

Now, two days later she had found Skyrah again, but kept her distance. After she had seen her Sissy walk into town with that girl, Mia followed from a distance, growing angrier and angrier as she saw more and more affection between the two.

First was the hand-holding in town, then the stunt in the restaurant, then the cuddling and shared fear during that awfully clichéd play, plus the laughter and happiness just pouring out of them after the play, it all pissed her off. She hated that Akame girl, she wanted her dead for stealing Sissy's affection from her.

Even if Skyrah had beaten her down, Mia kept telling herself that Sissy still loved her, and would someday share the same feelings Mia had for her. If she didn't, Mia would make her love her back.

Mia stopped, knowing she wouldn't have a chance against either of them in her condition, so she backed off, disappearing into the dark woods.

After another hour or so, Akame and Skyrah arrived back at their headquarters.

Tatsumi, Leone and Rhys were all in the dining room, they informed the couple that Najenda had went off to bed hours earlier and Mine was bathing.

Skyrah sat across from Rhys, who was on the side of the table with Tatsumi. Akame sat on the left of Leone, and Skyrah beside her.

"Did you two have a good time?" Rhys asked with a smile.

"Yeah, it was nice to get away and not have to worry about anything for awhile." Skyrah answered, raising an eyebrow to Rhys.

"What?" He asked.

"Your Teigu, are you not wearing it?" Skyrah asked.

"Oh, no I don't really need to wear it around you guys." He answered.

Leone grinned. "Because you've already seen our underwear?" She asked, the smell of alcohol on her breath.

Rhys' face turned red upon mentioning what he had done the day before. "No, that's not why." He said angrily.

Leone laughed hysterically at his anger, making him completely disregard her.

Tatsumi looked up to Akame. "You look nice in that, did you pick it out?" He asked, looking at her new clothing.

"No, I hate them." Akame deadpanned. "Skyrah liked them."

"Hey!" Skyrah said angrily. "You said you liked them too!"

"That was because I wanted out of that awful place." Akame said, looking over at her girlfriend. "It's too tight."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the store?!" Skyrah cried, standing Akame up and looking over her pants. "Where is it tight at?"

Akame sighed. "My butt." She said shamelessly.

The group went silent.

Leone reacted first, falling out of her chair in laughter, holding her stomach as if she was in pain.

"I thought they looked fine…" Skyrah tried to ignore Leone and the two boys on the other end of the table, who just wore blushes.

"Well you were staring at my butt on multiple occasions, so I would hope at least you liked them." Akame explained.

Skyrah blushed hard. "Th-that's not true!" She shouted over Leone's laughter.

"I noticed pretty quickly, especially when you had me doing spins in the store." Akame said, her face still emotionless.

Now Skyrah knew Akame was just lying to embarrass her, but she wasn't going to let her win just like that.

"Well it wasn't my fault, you were all over me in the dressing room!" Skyrah shot back, making up more to combat Akame.

Her black haired companion now had a blush of her own.

"I couldn't get off of you because you were practically tearing my clothes off!" Akame fired back.

Both Tatsumi and Rhys' jaws dropped, millions of different lewd images went through their mind.

Leone just continued to laugh, her drunken mind not feeling the least bit embarrassed by any of what they were saying.

"You were the one tearing your clothes off, there were multiple times where you made me dress you!" Skyrah tried to grin through the stark blush on her face.

Akame was now just as embarrassed as the latter, and grit her teeth, trying to think of something else.

"I was just curious if you liked your clothes…" Tatsumi said weakly.

"Shut up!" Both Akame and Skyrah shouted at him before turning back to each other.

"Would you all shut the hell up?!" Najenda's voice boomed as she entered the room, face twisted in anger. "I am trying to sleep!" The rest of Night Raid fell silent, taking their seats again and looking down at the table.

"Sorry, Najenda." They all took turns saying.

"I want all of you up bright and early, doing something helpful!" She shouted before stomping off, pulling the door off the hinges as she exited.

The group all looked up at each other, all sharing the same fear.

"I think we'll be off to bed." Skyrah said, being followed by Akame.

"Goodnight." Akame said as they walked out.

Tatsumi, Leone and Rhys all looked at each other, all trying to figure out exactly what just happened.

Mine entered the room shortly after they left.

"What was all the yelling about?" She asked.

"Well, you two have fun explaining the punishment to her, I'm off to bed." Leone said, running out of the room.

"Sorry, Tatsumi!" Rhys said, following Leone out.

Tatsumi looked up at Mine, who glared down at him. "What punishment?" She growled.

"God help me."


	10. Chapter 10: Kill The Clown

**Chapter 10**

 **Kill The Clown**

It was the day after Skyrah and Akame's date that the whole of Night Raid got the news of a school in the Capital that had been attacked. Najenda tried her best to hold back details, but knew exactly what the news would do to one of the newest members of Night Raid, Skyrah.

A clown, identified as Champ of Wild Hunt, entered the small elementary school with little resistance and repeated the very event that caused Skyrah so much pain. The children were violated, boys and girls alike before they were inevitably murdered. He was rumored to have walked through authorities with no resistance from them, as they believed something sinister had already happened in the school, and Champ was just there to investigate.

All of Night Raid was horrified by the disturbing act, but they all had heard Skyrah's story, and knew how it would affect her.

"I'm going." She said, grabbing her coat and heading for the door. Her body shook with anger, fear, and countless emotions that she couldn't control.

Akame stood behind her, holding her hand.

"Let go of me, Akame." Skyrah said.

Akame was scared, Skyrah's blood felt like it was boiling.

"Skyrah, you can't do this alone." Leone came up behind the two of them.

Skyrah's eyes were dull, her mind hardly thought of anything, anger had completely swallowed her.

"I'm coming." Tatsumi said. "I'm not letting this bastard cause any more pain."

"I'm coming too." Leone said.

"Me too." Akame said softly.

"No." Skyrah growled. "If I lose anyone else I care about to him…"

"Don't be so selfish!" Mine shouted in anger. "What about us? You think we'll feel any different if we let you go alone and you die?!" Mine cocked her Teigu, putting it around her back.

"All of you but Rhys are going." Najenda nodded. "I need someone to stay back, just in case this is a plan to lure us out." She explained, looking down at her team. "This is all of Night Raid's problem, we're supposed to protect the Capital as much as we can, so go and find that bastard." She said.

Skyrah looked back at Night Raid, the people she considered family, a tear fell down the side of her face, but she quickly wiped it away and opened the door. "Thank you, all of you." She said just before they all rushed out, headed towards the Capital.

It wasn't long before the group burst into the city, all splitting up to converge on their target.

There were three groups, Skyrah and Akame, Mine and Tatsumi, and Leone on her own. Each knew where they were heading, and were tasked with sweeping the streets around the school to try and find Champ.

"Skyrah, you haven't said anything." Akame said, looking over her face. She didn't even seem angry, she looked perfectly calm, but Akame knew better. "Are you ok?"

"No." Skyrah said, her pupils shrinking for a moment then slowly coming back to normal size. "I'm going to kill him, Akame."

Akame looked forward, where the school was quickly coming into view.

"There." Akame said, but Skyrah was speeding up, pulling away from her at alarming speeds. She quickly realized why, Champ was right outside the school, surrounded by guards who looked like they had turned their blades on him.

"Loputon Voima: 250 percent **!** " Skyrah shouted, blowing through the few guards around him and slamming into Champ's side before he could see what was coming.

Champ found himself imbedded into the side of a building, taking punch after punch to the face by someone unknown to him. He reacted, pushing the person off of him and pulling himself out of the wall.

"Skyrah!" A voice said from above.

Skyrah looked up to see Run, who floated in the air like an angel with feathered wings. Kurome stood on the building above him, shocked at her sudden appearance.

"Stay out of this!" Skyrah shouted.

"Yeah, you two can wait for me to finish this one, can't you?" Champ said with a large grin.

It was the first time Skyrah had heard the voice of the person who caused her so much pain throughout her entire life. It infuriated her, it made her blood boil.

"I am going to kill you." Skyrah growled. "I am going to make you wish you never touched a child!"

Skyrah reared back and slammed her fist into Champ's stomach, which he hardly moved from.

"Oh?" Champ sneered. "Who might you be, young lady?"

"I'm the girl you left without arms or legs!" Skyrah had attracted a crowd, all of Night Raid watched. "In that town near Joyou, so many years ago, you killed my whole class!" She shouted.

Champ laughed hysterically. "I expected you to bleed out, you must be a tough little one!" He shouted. "I never got to you like I got to your friends, why don't we make up for lost time?" Champ licked his lips, shaking Skyrah to the core.

The clown reached down, grabbing an orb from his bag and throwing it at Skyrah. The girl dodged it from hitting her, but it detonated at her side, launching her to the left and skipping her across the ground.

Champ resumed his laughter, but was rudely interrupted as the girl he thought would be at least fazed by the attack leaped from the cloud of smoke, smashing a fist into his face. He was surprised, this girl, whom he had accidentally left alive years before, had come to find him and made herself strong enough to fight.

"I'm going to kill you!" Skyrah said, grabbing Champ's arm as he swung at her and pulling him down into the ground, grinding his face against the concrete.

With some effort, the clown rose to his feet again, throwing another orb before he could be attacked again.

Skyrah put up a block, expecting another explosion, but was instead met with a powerful surge of electricity that arced through her metal limbs into her body. Within the blink of an eye, Skyrah's whole body lit up like a light, she shook and quivered as she was brutally electrocuted, bringing her to the ground before it eventually stopped.

Her ears were ringing, but she could tell her attacker was laughing as she looked up.

"How does that feel, little girl?" She heard through the loud ringing.

Her muscles were tense, fighting against the current flowing through her body. She slowly rose up, immediately getting punched directly in the face, throwing her back into Akame.

Akame helped her rise up, feeling her shaking body and becoming even more frightened. "You have to wait for a moment, you can't keep going in." She warned, but Skyrah fought out of her hold, standing her ground once again.

Leone and the others arrived, each one of them ready to fight.

Kurome jumped down in between Akame and Skyrah, staring down her older sister.

"Come on, sis, let you friend fight on her own." She taunted, unsheathing her blade and engaging her new target.

Akame defended herself, but was less worried about her sister and more of Skyrah, who was currently getting pummeled by Champ.

He had Skyrah by her hair, hitting her again and again in the stomach. She desperately tried to free herself from his grip, but he showed no signs of letting go, he just laughed at her attempts to block and escape.

"What's the matter?!" Champ mocked, hitting her again in the stomach. "A little overwhelmed?"

Run swooped down, shooting a single feather and finding his target in Champ's eye, making him drop Skyrah and back away in pain.

"Are you alright?" Run asked, helping Skyrah up.

Skyrah was confused as to why he was helping her, there was no reason for him to. He could have even taken advantage of her position and finished her off.

"Why?" Skyrah asked softly.

Run shook his head, glaring up at Champ, who was just now recovering from the attack, his eye covered in blood. "I'm not letting him take the sole survivor of my class." He said with determination. "It's my fault all of you kids had such cruel fates."

Skyrah stood up on her own, standing beside Run.

"Allies for right now, but after this we're enemies again." Skyrah said, still not fully accepting her teacher's apologies.

Run sighed. "I suppose that's how it's going to be, whether we like it or not."

Champ now stood ready, waiting for either to attack him.

"Together, let's go." Skyrah said, darting forward.

Run flew around the left of Champ, drawing his attention from Skyrah, who rushed him from right down the middle. Without hesitation, she used all of her momentum to smash her fist directly into Champ's face, making more blood pour from his blinded eye.

"You little-"

Run followed up, shooting multiple feathers from his wings and connecting all up the side of Champ's body. Skyrah took no chances and connected a punch where each one of the arrows had impacted him, jamming them further into his body and eliciting a scream from the murderous clown. She then jumped up, flipping forward and slamming her heel into the top of Champ's head, knocking him flat on his face.

Leone, Tatsumi and Mine watched from a distance how well the two were working together, but quickly noticed a new threat. Running across the rooftops towards the battle was Dorothea and Mia of Wild Hunt, both noticing the presence of Night Raid and the Jaegers.

"Leone and Tatsumi, hold them off, I'll cover you!" Mine said, making her way to a rooftop as Tatsumi and Leone rushed into the battle.

Akame still held Kurome back, both struggling get any kind of attack on each other.

"Kurome, I'm not going to kill you here." Akame said, locking swords with her sister. "I don't have time to fight with you!" Akame grabbed her sister and spun, kicking her in the chest and launching her into the side of a nearby building.

"Get out of my way!" Mia shouted, meeting Leone on a rooftop and charging her without hesitation.

The four began their fight on the rooftops, each duo fighting to kill. Mine shot every chance she got, hitting Mia, who didn't even try to dodge and shrugged off the bullets, but Dorothea hopped around, dodging anything Mine threw at her.

Run and Skyrah still pressured Champ, hitting him with combined attacks and dodging his ranged orbs.

The clown grew frustrated with the large amounts of damage he was taking, and let out an angry shout, slamming an orb right down under his feet.

"Die!" He shouted as an explosion erupted underneath him, blowing both of his attackers away while sustaining damage himself.

Just as the smoke cleared, Skyrah noticed another orb coming right her way.

She leaned back to dodge, but the orb exploded right as it got close, sending flames and debris spraying all over her. Two more came just as fast, one exploding and the other burst into bright flames. Skyrah felt the heat and the pressure from the Teigu, but could hardly tell where she was or when the volley of attacks were going to stop.

Orb after orb landed around her and she tried her best to dodge the explosions, but was thrown around like an unwanted doll.

Just as quickly as they started, they stopped, the smoke slowly cleared away until all three fighters could see each other again. Champ stood between Run and Skyrah, who both were on the ground, both not knowing just how much damage they had sustained.

Skyrah tried to get to her feet, but felt a sharp pain in her side. When she looked down, a piece of the destroyed ground had lodged into her side, the long piece of concrete had pierced through from the front of her and had burrowed deep, causing blood to pour from the sides of the stuffed wound.

It pained her to stand, but she did it anyway, as she saw Run stand despite his wounds.

His arm appeared to be completely broken, it was twisted around and was held up by his free arm.

Both parties clothes had been torn to scraps, both showing blackened burn marks and large tears all over.

Champ stood on what looked like a broken leg, his costume had also been torn and burned. Various bruises and cuts showed through his costume and makeup.

"You two get on my damn nerves." Champ growled. "Those little angels enjoyed every moment of what I did to them, they are thanking me in heaven right now." He laughed, looking back to Skyrah.

Skyrah stared with a devilish look in her eyes. "Those kids… they were more than your damn entertainment, you sick freak." She spat. "Those kids are going to give me the strength to finish you right now."

Run narrowed his eyes, looking at Skyrah spread her arms out, making fists with her hands before slamming them together.

"Loputon Voima: Infinite Bli-"

"No you don't!" Champ threw another orb right for Skyrah, who had absolutely no way to block the attack.

The world moved slowly, the orb made it's way closer and closer to Skyrah with each passing second. Skyrah noticed the design inside of the orb, it was another fire orb. A direct attack from it would easily incinerate her body, and she would be gone. As the gap slowly closed, Skyrah began to see a shadow passing over her, then a body, covered in white clothing.

The orb burst into flames, but Skyrah felt no heat anywhere on her body.

When she opened her eyes, she recognized the figure before her.

"Hello, Skyrah." Esdeath said, smiling down at her with happiness. "One moment."

Esdeath turned, locking eyes with Champ, who stared in disbelief that she completely negated his attack with hardly any effort. He barely even reached for another orb before Esdeath appeared before him, making a simple movement with her hand.

Champ's arm was blown apart, only a small splash of blood on the wall behind the man being what was left of it.

"You would hurt my student?" Esdeath asked, her eyes locked onto Champ's.

Champ fell back, screaming and looking at his lost arm in horror.

"Shut up." Esdeath said, reaching into Champ's mouth and ripping out his tongue.

The murderous clown tried to scream again, but all that came out were gagged cries of pain.

"Esdeath…" Skyrah said in shock, amazed by her speed. She was grabbed from behind by Akame, who covered her mouth and pulled her away.

Esdeath lifted her hand, creating a dome around Akame, Skyrah, Champ and herself.

A pillar came down from the ceiling of the dome, slowing down until it held Champ's body securely under it.

"I won't let you get away again, you are coming with me." She said, turning around and locking eyes with Akame, who did the same with her.

Skyrah stood between the two, cutting off their lines of sight. "I know you two have history, but if you touch Akame, I'll kill myself before you take me." Skyrah knew she was outclassed, she wasn't as weak as when she had left, but she still was far from Esdeath's level of strength.

"Skyrah." Esdeath stated simply. "Why do you continue to protect those criminals?" She asked, obviously frustrated by Skyrah's response.

Skyrah grabbed Akame by her wrist and pulled her close, kissing her on her lips.

Esdeath stiffed up, staring at the couple in confusion and anger.

"Night Raid… will you take away everyone I love?!" She shouted as the couple separated, looking through the dome around them and meeting eyes with Tatsumi, who stood near Mine.

Akame blushed, staring into Skyrah's eyes as they parted.

"Skyrah…" Akame started.

"Don't say anything." Skyrah said, a tear running down her face. "I need you to gather everyone and run, no questions, just go. I'll be back as soon as I can." She smiled, kissing Akame again just for good measure.

Akame watched as Skyrah reared back, slamming her fist into the ice wall, blowing a hole in it.

"Go."

Doing what she said, Akame moved out of the dome, gathering the rest of Night Raid and retreating from the large amount of fallen enemies.

"What are you doing?" Esdeath questioned, going to follow Akame but being stopped by Skyrah.

"If you can beat me here, I'll go with you." She said, pushing Esdeath back.

Esdeath looked at her with confusion. "I'm not going to fight you."

"Then you'll die." Skyrah said, narrowing her eyes.

Skyrah gripped her fists, she knew she stood no chance against Esdeath, but she had to buy time for her friends to run away.

"Fine." Esdeath said, readying herself. "Come at me with all you've got."

"Loputon Voima: 300 percent!" Skyrah shouted, slamming her fists together. "Infinite Blitz!" She reached down, ripping the piece of concrete from her side, gritting her teeth as the pain left the wound.

Her body was barely holding 300 percent power, she could feel the strain building quickly, and along with her Infinite Blitz ability, her body was ready, but fading fast.

"I see you still refuse to use your Trump Card." Esdeath said with a smile. "But you've definitely improved, I wonder what it would be like now."

"I'm not going to become a monster, I won't use it, even against you." Skyrah had lied about Infinite Blitz being her Trump Card to Leone because it was easier to explain, her real Trump Card shouldn't ever be used.

Skyrah, with the help of the pistons on her legs, rushed forward, closing the gap between the two in a flash, her fist meeting a ice shield created by Esdeath. The blue haired woman kicked to the side, being blocked by Skyrah's own leg. Skyrah reared back and punched again, destroying the shield and making Esdeath back away.

"You've gotten better, but not as good as me." Esdeath rushed forward, dodging a punch and meeting Skyrah with her own ice fist, which connected into Skyrah's face.

The younger girl flipped backwards, dodging a swipe from Esdeath's sword. She was quickly noticing that none of Esdeath's attacks were anywhere near as lethal as they could be, she was holding back so she could take her alive.

"Stop holding back, dammit!" Skyrah said, punching Esdeath in her stomach during a quick retreat.

She feinted an attack, making Esdeath hold up her guard, then swapped at the last moment and hit the woman across the face, the piston on her arm making the punch even more powerful. Skyrah then used her knee to hit Esdeath as she fell to the side from her last attack, making her stand back up on her feet so Skyrah could jump up and bring both of her fists down on Esdeath's head.

Esdeath pulled away, smiling at the young girl. "Very good combination, I didn't see that one coming." She said with a happy smile, making Skyrah even angrier.

"Shut up!" Skyrah rushed back in, but this time felt a sharp sensation on the side of her neck, making her retreat quickly.

"Getting angry makes you stronger, but it dulls your awareness, Skyrah." Esdeath said with a frown. "I could have put that jab right through your throat, which you would have dodged if you weren't so angry." She explained.

Skyrah took a deep breath, feeling the anger still rising. She was confused at the same time though, rather than just fighting her, Esdeath was actually teaching her during the fight.

"It's a little quirk I noticed when you were younger." Esdeath said with a laugh. "You'd be an amazing warrior if you could just keep yourself calm."

Skyrah grit her teeth, firing towards Esdeath and cocking back a new punch.

Esdeath took the punch and grabbed the girl in mid-air by her throat, squeezing tightly. "Just like that, I could have seen that attack from a mile away and dodged." She said, choking the girl. "You need to learn to keep your head in fights, then things like this wouldn't happen."

Esdeath dropped Skyrah and swung her sword before the younger girl could recover, slashing right through both of her forearms and destroying her arms up to her elbows.

Skyrah watched in horror as the arms she had lost when she was so young, were taken from her again in the blink of an eye.

"Your arms, you left them wide open." Esdeath said, crossing her arms as the girl collapsed to her knees, staring down at her now missing arms. "Budo was right, though, they took a full powered hit from me to take off." She said.

"My…" Skyrah was horrified, her arms were everything to her, without them… she was useless.

"Hush now, child." Esdeath said, falling down with Skyrah and holding her in her arms. "They won't leave just like that, it's in your blood, after all."

Skyrah had no time to figure out what she meant, Esdeath gave one powerful punch to Skyrah's core and she fell limp in Esdeath's arms.


	11. Chapter 11: Kill Your Weakness

**Chapter 11**

 **Kill Your Weakness**

 **1 Week Later…**

Kurome watched as Esdeath continued her training with Skyrah, who day after day, was beaten to a pulp by her new trainer. Her arms had grown back before they had even taken her out of the Capital, which was a surprise to even Esdeath herself. The girl had heart, not many people would come back again and again, knowing they were fighting someone they couldn't beat. It had been a full week since she had been captured, and had made multiple attempts to escape, but was captured each and every time.

"She's gotten a hang of keeping calm." Wave said, sitting beside Kurome and watching together. "Isn't that what Esdeath is trying to teach her?" He asked.

Kurome nodded. "I don't know why though, Esdeath is wasting her time." She said. "The girl won't break, we're not even allowed to torture her to get information on Night Raid." She explained.

Wave raised an eyebrow. "And her and your sister…"

"Shut up, Wave." Kurome said, looking up at him. "Don't talk about that." She said.

Kurome was more than angry that Akame had found someone intimate with her, it made her want to skin Skyrah alive, then show off her work to her sister. Back in the Capital when the two had fought, Akame didn't even pay any attention to their fight, and instead was worried about the girl.

"Sorry, sorry." He said, looking over to the two fighting girls and envisioning a late night with Skyrah and Akame, his mind wandering all kinds of places.

"You are so gross." Kurome said.

"What?" Wave asked, snapping back to reality. "What do you mean?"

"I saw that stupid look on your face, don't play dumb." She said with a frown.

Wave felt a blush come to his cheeks and turned away from Kurome again, looking back to the fight.

Skyrah dodged elegantly between Esdeath's attacks, throwing in small punches and kicks of her own when she saw openings, she had been hit only a few times, but she knew Esdeath was about ready to pound on her.

She had noticed a pattern in their sparring matches in the past week, she would start off slow, letting Skyrah warm up and would gradually pick up the pace, then suddenly she would get a strange look in her eye and just wail on her, not holding back her strength or speed.

Skyrah waited patiently for that look in her eyes to come back, she had been planning this all night, and now the time had finally come for her to try her plan.

There!

Esdeath began a volley of punches, but Skyrah leaned down, picking up a fistful of dirt and throwing it in Esdeath's face, catching her off guard and blinding her momentarily.

Skyrah took her opening and didn't hold back her strength, punching and kicking Esdeath, who couldn't correctly block any of her attacks and instead had to take the full force of each blow, to the head, chest, stomach, legs, it didn't matter, Skyrah connected with her target.

With the time she had left, Skyrah swept Esdeath's legs out from under her and kicked up dirt, masking her escape.

"Skyrah!" Esdeath called in frustration. "Get back here!"

Skyrah was on a dead sprint through the woods, ripping through the low hanging branches with minimal effort. It was about a minute before she reached a clearing, where a tall standing wall of ice stood.

"Alright, I have to do this fast." She told herself, walking up to the wall.

"Infinite Blitz." She said, feeling her arms change.

Skyrah looked down at her arms, then punched the wall, the piston fired, sticking into the ice a few inches.

"Perfect." She said with a smile.

Skyrah had been practicing this idea for a few days, if she could use the pistons as ice picks, she could climb the wall. She punched the wall with her other fist, and sure enough, the piston lodged itself into the wall. All she had to do was repeat the motion, and keep pulling herself up.

She had made it about halfway up the wall before Esdeath also reached the clearing, finding Skyrah immediately.

"Get down, dammit!" She shouted, making an ice pillar under her feet and reaching Skyrah's height within seconds.

Skyrah held her left arm deep within the ice wall and turned to the right, throwing her fist outwards, her reach stopping inches away from Esdeath's face, who grinned at her failure of an attack.

Skyrah also grinned, the piston on her right arm fired, hitting Esdeath right in the forehead and throwing her off the pillar of ice.

Esdeath hit the ground hard, her eyes were blurry from the powerful strike and she struggled to breathe because of her fall, which had knocked the wind out of her.

Wave and Kurome appeared in the clearing now too, seeing Skyrah and Esdeath.

Without looking back for them, Skyrah continued her climb up the wall, finally reaching the top and jumping over, running as fast as she could to get away.

She did it, she did everything correctly, her escape had been repeated over and over again in her head, and she actually did it! Esdeath hadn't seen her attack coming, and she got away without a scratch!

Skyrah smiled, closing her eyes and savoring her victory.

After finding a town or something, she would have to find her way back to the Capital, then could get back to the base without any trouble.

During her brief moment of glee, she failed to realize what she was about to run into.

She slammed into something and fell down, opening her eyes and being met with another wall of ice.

Skyrah was horrified, there was no way this was the same wall, so why was this one even here?!

"Gotcha."

Esdeath grabbed Skyrah from behind, slamming her head into the wall and throwing her to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Esdeath shouted at the girl on the ground. "You aren't going to escape us, and nobody can find us here. You are trapped." She said slowly, as if Skyrah wouldn't understand.

"Screw you." Skyrah said, trying to get to her feet but was met with a foot stomping down onto her stomach, keeping her on the ground.

"I'm trying to give you a home, a place where you can stay, a place better than with criminals!" Esdeath shouted, grinding her heel into Skyrah's stomach, making her cry out in pain. "Is this how you repay me for my kindness?!"

"Kindness?" Skyrah laughed. "What kind of home doesn't let people leave?" She asked.

Esdeath kicked Skyrah in the head. "I'm taking you back and you are going to bathe, you stink." She scoffed, picking the girl up and quickly making her way back to the base.

"You can bathe in the pond, as your punishment." Esdeath said, still angered.

Her three captors escorted her down to a large pond, where she was laid on the ground and given a towel and soap, then left.

"Wave, make sure she doesn't try to escape again." Esdeath sighed as she walked away.

Wave froze. "You want me to watch her while she bathes?"

Esdeath turned back. "Yes, is there a problem?" She asked, glaring at him.

"No, sorry ma'am." He said, a blush appearing on his cheeks as he turned to look at the slowly recuperating girl.

"Good." Esdeath and Kurome walked off, leaving Wave and Skyrah alone near the water.

Wave walked down the small slope to where Skyrah was getting to her feet, and offered her a hand to help.

"Get away from me." She said bitterly.

Wave pulled his hand away, a small frown appearing on his face. "You really need to at least try to stay here, it's not so bad with everybody, we're like a big family." He explained, getting a glare from the girl.

"I have a family, and this isn't it." She said, looking down towards the water.

"Night Raid is your family?" Wave asked. "I feel sorry for you."

Wave got the exact same look, but this time Skyrah walked up to him, her fists clenched. "Excuse me?" She asked in anger. "I feel sorry that you have to be with Kurome and Esdeath."

"Neither of them are that bad." Wave said.

"Kurome stabbed me through my chest, and Esdeath beats the hell out of me every day since I've gotten here." Skyrah said. "But no, they're great."

Wave sighed, sitting down. "Whatever, we won't agree on anything if you can't look at it from my perspective."

"How about you look at it from my perspective, you and Run seem like the only sane people here." Skyrah said. "I left this country for three years, then I came back and everyone I knew was either dead, or changed for the worse. Night Raid took me in and took care of me, it was difficult at first, but I eventually saw their ideals matched mine in one way or another." She explained, crossing her arms.

"All the Jaegers want to do is protect the Capital, Night Raid's rebellion only caused chaos inside the Capital." Wave argued.

"They caused chaos because they couldn't speak against the government, so they had to take it this twisted government by force, something most of them never wanted to do." Skyrah said, trying to make her point. "The Jaegers were protecting a corrupt government, not the people. If you were protecting the people, Wild Hunt never would have gotten away with the horrible things they did."

Wave grit his teeth in frustration. "I hate Wild Hunt just as much as you, Skyrah." He said. "They are sick, twisted people."

"But they are part of the government, and you protected them whether you meant to or not." She fired back, making Wave cross his arms and close his eyes.

"That's not what we did." He said simply.

"Fine." Skyrah replied. "Think that all you want."

Skyrah walked back down to the side of the lake and picked up her towel and soap, looking back at her overseer.

"Will you look away?" She asked with a blush. "I'm not going to bathe with my clothes on." She said.

Wave seemed to question whether or not he should do what she said, but eventually turned around.

Skyrah quickly undressed and waded out into the dark water, making sure her important parts were completely hidden.

"Okay, you can turn back around now." She said, pouring some of the soap out of the bottle and beginning to put it in her hair.

Wave turned back, seeing the shoulders and head of the girl now wading in the water. He knew what was under the water, but that didn't stop his mind from drifting.

"Do you, uh, need me to wash your back?" Wave asked, immediately regretting it.

Skyrah turned around, looking back at him. "What'd you say?" She asked, not hearing what he had said.

"Nothing!" Wave said, silently thanking the universe that he wasn't heard. "I didn't say anything!"

Skyrah nodded, then turned back around facing out into the pond.

Rhys was alone, walking around Night Raid's base in the middle of the night. He had done this for the past few days, it seemed like everyone couldn't get much sleep while Skyrah was gone, the first few days they had been hopeful, expecting a quick escape from their comrade, but now they days crawled by. No jobs had been given to Night Raid other than Tatsumi and Mine's mission, which had them gone for only two days.

Both expected Skyrah to have returned by the time they got back, but were not met with her greetings when they returned from the mission they would have gone on with her help.

Najenda had tried to keep the team's morale up, but even she was starting to feel the pressure of losing another friend. Leone had hardly been at the hideout, she had been searching for any trace of where the Jaegers had gone, but found little to nothing.

Akame hadn't spoken since she left, not a word to anyone. She had kept herself busy by vigorously training, not stopping until she absolutely had to, even if she hadn't spoken, her hatred of Esdeath and her Jaegers radiated around her. Rhys had tried his best to get her to eat, but he wouldn't stay around her for long, just the air around her was thick with tension.

It was made clear to Rhys just how much Night Raid cared about their members, especially when they knew one was still alive.

That didn't mean he didn't miss her, even though the two hadn't talked much, she seemed nice enough, and despite her past, she still wore a smile most of the time and was helpful to the other members.

The wood underneath his feet creaked as he slowly made his way down the stairs, making sure not to trip in the darkness. He heard the sound of metal on metal, and knew who he was going to have to usher to bed, again.

Rhys rounded the corner that led out to the training grounds, where Akame was still flipping around, perfecting her attacks and keeping her mind off of the world around her. It didn't feel right to call out to her and take her out of the escape she was currently in, so he sat and watched for a few minutes, before she finally stopped, breathing heavily and dripping sweat.

"Akame, do you plan on going to bed any time soon?" He asked, crossing his arms. "You've hardly slept."

Akame turned around, slowing down her breathing. Rhys noticed the moisture on her face wasn't sweat, it was from the tears streaming from her eyes. Her eyes were puffy and red, she looked like she was in more pain than he had seen anyone in the past week.

"Skyrah wouldn't want you to worry like this." Rhys consoled, standing up and walking over to her. "So please, for your sake, go get some rest."

Akame turned away, gripping her sword tightly and looking down on the ground.

"You need rest, you're going to hurt your body if you continue like this." Rhys said, grabbing Akame's hand and trying to pull her away.

Akame spun, hitting Rhys across the head, making him let go and back away.

The two assassins locked eyes with each other, Rhys noticed the anger in Akame's eyes, and knew what was about to happen.

Akame sheathed her blade and threw it to the side, putting up her fists.

"Shut up, don't tell me what is going to hurt me, I can take care of myself." Akame growled.

Rhys felt blood in his mouth from her previous attack and wiped his mouth, quickly matching Akame's stance.

"I'll tell you what's going to hurt you." He said, clenching his teeth. "I am."

Akame sped over to Rhys, swinging wildly and being easily dodged. Rhys shot a quick jab into Akame's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Rhys' Teigu activated and he dodged Akame's next attack, hitting her with a powerful punch to her temple. Akame's eyes were blurry after the attack, but she attacked again, striking Rhys in his mouth, quickly spinning on one foot and kicking him in the side of his head.

Both of the two assassins continued their assault on each other, neither holding back their strength. Strike after strike, the two traded blows again and again, trying to bring one another down.

Rhys suddenly felt a blow to his back throwing him towards Akame at breakneck speed, she dodged his flying body, but she was immediately hit in her head, throwing her into the same wall Rhys had been knocked into.

Leone angrily stomped over to the two of them, picking them both up and slamming them together.

"What the hell is the matter with you two?!" She shouted in anger. "Why are you fighting at a time like this?" She roared, hitting the two together again.

"I was just trying to help!" Rhys shouted, trying to squirm out of Leone's tight grip. "Akame needs to rest!"

"She knows her limits, you need to mind your own business!" Leone said, slamming him into the dirt before looking up to Akame. "And you need to stop ignoring all of us, Skyrah being here isn't only affecting you!" Leone reared back and threw Akame into a wall, crushing the wood with the force from her body.

Both Akame and Rhys struggled to move from the incredibly powerful blows.

Leone was still fuming with anger. "Grow up, both of you!" She yelled, stomping her foot down. "The last thing she's going to want to see when she gets back is us torn apart!" Leone stomped away from the two beaten assassins, slamming the door she had come from behind her.

Akame was the first to her feet. She leaned up against the wall, feeling just how tired she really was. The things Leone had said, sure they hurt to listen to, but they were the truth, Akame was ignoring her friends and had lost hope that her friend was going to return.

"Rhys, I'm sorry for attacking you…" Akame said, walking over and helping him up. "I… wasn't thinking right." She said, feeling her tears stream from her eyes again.

Rhys cracked his neck, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry too." He said, giving a weak smile. "We need to stick together for Skyrah's sake, Leone has probably found something to lead to her."

Leone watched from a window in an upper level of the building, she was happy that the two apologized to each other, but also felt pain rise in her heart. She hadn't found a single lead on Skyrah's whereabouts, it was almost like she disappeared.

Wherever she was, she had to be alive. Esdeath would have already let Night Raid know if she was dead, just like they did with Chelsea. Leone prayed that she wouldn't find Skyrah like they had found Chelsea, it would rip Akame, and all of Night Raid apart.

"Leone, what's going on?" Mine asked, walking out of her room rubbing her eyes. "What was that shouting?"

Leone chuckled softly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." She said, looking back out into the night sky. "Everything is fine, go back to bed." Mine was suddenly at her side, leaned against her larger body.

"Found anything about Skyrah?" She asked, looking outside with Leone.

Leone gripped her fists. "Nothing." She said. "I've asked around the Capital, and towns near it, and nobody has seen a thing about Skyrah or Esdeath and the Jaegers." She explained, holding an arm around Mine's body.

"She'll be okay." Mine said softly, a small smile appearing on her face. "She's strong."

Leone nodded with a smile, happy someone other than her and the boss had hope she would return. "Yeah, we'll find her soon, I promise."

"Akame has taken it pretty hard." Mine said. "I hope she is okay."

"She's alright, just worried." Leone grinned. "Like you were when Tatsumi was taken by Esdeath, she's scared for her lover."

Mine jerked away from Leone, a huge blush on her face. "L-lover?" She cried out, remembering when Tatsumi had been taken. "Don't call us names like that! We're just dating!"

Leone laughed. "Yeah, whatever you say, kiddo." She smiled, walking away from her friend and waving back to her. "I'm gonna get some rest, gotta get back out there tomorrow." She said, disappearing to her room.

Mine was left alone, looking out the window at the huge moon.

"You'll be back soon, right?" She asked, knowing nobody could hear her.


	12. Chapter 12: Kill The Darkness

**Chapter 12**

 **Kill The Darkness**

 **2 days later…**

Esdeath sat beside a sleeping Skyrah in their tent, watching her body move as she took each breath. Kurome had told her it was weird to watch someone sleep, but she didn't find it very strange, especially if it was someone she cared about so much. That was another thing nobody else seemed to get, it was true, she did love Skyrah like a daughter, but their training was no time to show weakness or love. If Skyrah got stronger, she would grow closer to Esdeath and she could be used to fight back against Night Raid.

It was what she really wanted, Esdeath knew it. Skyrah didn't want to be with those criminals, and she didn't love Akame. She couldn't. That would go against everything she was taught as a child.

But for whatever reason, Skyrah swore by Night Raid and Akame, not accepting any friendship from the Jaegers, despite them trying to treat her like one of them. Esdeath was surprised, Skyrah's outlook had been completely changed by Night Raid, she now considered herself an assassin and a great friend to each of them.

Her mind had been corrupted by those bastards, almost to the point where Esdeath believed she couldn't be changed back for the best. But she knew she could change the girl, she had helped Budo change her from a weak girl to a warrior, now she needed to change her from a criminal to a hero.

Skyrah was awake, but kept her eyes closed, feeling the presence of someone else in the room. Without a doubt it was Esdeath, but what was she doing? Watching her?

"Oh, Skyrah, what have they done to you?" Esdeath used her ice hand to brush some of Skyrah's bangs out of her face.

Skyrah's arm shot up, latching on to the ice arm and holding it tight. She sat up and opened her furious eyes, locking them with her captor's. Using a minimal amount of her strength, Skyrah crushed Esdeath's arm in her metal fist, throwing the scraps to the side before breaking eye contact and getting out of bed.

Esdeath's arm regenerated without her even trying, and she smiled at Skyrah. "Good morning." Esdeath said with a sickening amount of happiness in her voice.

"Don't talk to me." Skyrah said, putting her hair up into a ponytail, dressing herself and leaving the tent.

Esdeath frowned, but it quickly faded as she followed the girl outside, finding her way to the younger girl's side as she walked away.

"If I don't talk to you, how am I going to tell you I care about you?" Esdeath asked, stepping in front of Skyrah and stopping her.

"You. Care about me?" Skyrah laughed. "Get away from me." She threatened, trying to step around.

Esdeath grinned, stepping so Skyrah couldn't pass her. "If I don't?" She asked with a smile.

Skyrah grit her teeth, pushing Esdeath out of her way this time, but she didn't move, and only laughed at Skyrah's advance.

"I've been teaching you to keep yourself calm during battle, so what is this attitude?" Esdeath asked as her student stopped speaking to her. "You could use your Trump Card, then you'd be able to move me out of the way." She taunted.

"I'm not going to use it, I will not become a monster." Skyrah vaguely remembered what happened the last time she had used it, and the power it contained.

Esdeath leaned down, moving close to Skyrah's ear. "You already are." She whispered, leaning away and watching the girl's face grow even more angry. "All of your blood is infected with the blood of a golem, you aren't even human." She said.

"Shut up!" Skyrah shouted, swinging her fist and missing.

Esdeath was suddenly behind her, holding her and a tight hug. "The Skyrah I trained was a monster, Budo and I both knew what you were." She mocked, not letting her move.

"Stop it! Shut your mouth!" Skyrah screamed, her mind racing as she desperately tried to break free.

"Budo used to fear your power, he was afraid of that monster in your heart." Esdeath cried, spinning Skyrah around and holding her close. "And when you first used it, we thought it was so beautiful."

Skyrah kicked and headbutted Esdeath, but she refused to let go. "No! Stop talking to me!" She yelled in anger.

Esdeath laughed. "Don't you remember what you did, the people you hurt?" She questioned, covering Skyrah's eyes with one hand.

The two hadn't realized, but they had drawn a huge crowd, including the Jaegers.

It had happened one day during her training with other soldiers, Budo hadn't been present, and a large group of male soldiers attempted to take advantage of her. It had taken four of them to hold her down, but the feeling of helplessness and weakness in that moment ignited a fire inside of her, and so Loputon Voima's Trump Card was shown for the very first time.

She killed each and every one of the fifteen male guards that took part in the event, leaving the room she was in with them covered in blood, her Trump Card had mutilated their bodies to the point where they were all unrecognizable by anyone. The worst part of the whole ordeal, was the fact that she enjoyed what she did until she returned to her normal state minutes after.

"There!" Esdeath cried in happiness. "I can feel it!" She said, Skyrah's body shook in anger and fear of her captor, but something else was hiding underneath it.

"Please stop her!" Skyrah shouted to anyone around her, tears flowed from behind Esdeath's hand that covered her eyes. "I don't want this... please!" She sobbed.

"Nobody will do a thing!" Esdeath laughed. "You are going to stay like this until you show everyone what they want to see!" She shouted, looking around at the gathering around her.

"Esdeath, stop this!" Run tried, she began to turn over to him, but was interrupted.

Skyrah released a deafening roar, making everyone, including Esdeath cover their ears in pain.

Esdeath watched as Skyrah's metal limbs turned into a matte black, matching the new color of her hair that had grown a half meter in length, reaching down to the back of her knees. Her bangs seemed to stand up with the rest of her hair, being blown out of her face and revealing a tribal looking tattoo down the left side of her face, passing through her eye. While her right eye was normal green, her left iris had become a pitch black color.

"Her Trump Card, Fury Release." Esdeath said with an accomplished look on her face. "This is the absolute highest level of power her Teigu can reach without destroying her body." Her eyes sparkled in amazement at Skyrah's transformation.

Skyrah looked down at her body, checking all of her body before looking over to Esdeath.

"Skyrah, you're beautiful." Esdeath said, approaching her with a smile on her face.

Skyrah burst forward without hesitation, grabbing Esdeath by her collar and pulling the older woman over her head, slamming her into the ground, obliterating a few feet of the hard ground underneath her from the sheer force.

Esdeath spat blood, the force she had been hit with had definitely broken something.

Skyrah backed away, looking down at her body in horror, tears were building in her eyes. She looked around, seeing everyone staring at her, their eyes felt like they were burning into her skin, the confused and sickened glances of soldiers and members of the Jaegers made the tears begin to flow down her face. Esdeath slowly sat up, smiling at what she had done to Skyrah, everything she wanted had happened, and Skyrah's Trump Card was more powerful than ever before.

"Skyrah, don't you love that power, isn't this what you trained for?!" Esdeath asked in glee.

Skyrah shook her head. "This isn't what-" She clamped her palm over her mouth.

She wasn't the only one that heard it either. A voice, far from Skyrah's echoed her words as she spoke, mixing almost perfectly with her own voice.

"The Golem, it's waking inside of you." Esdeath said, walking over to Skyrah and putting a comforting hand on her shaking shoulder. "You're growing stronger."

Skyrah screamed. The rock underfoot of everyone shook from the immense pressure of the unbelievably loud voice, the ground cracked and shattered, breaking under people's feet and trapping their legs in the shaking rocks.

"Yes!" Esdeath shouted as she covered her ears. "Show us your power!" She was strangely happy as others around her panicked and ran from the monster Esdeath had unleashed.

When Skyrah stopped screaming, she turned and ran for the woods at such a speed the trees around her bent like putty.

She heard new thoughts, thoughts that weren't hers, thoughts that told her to destroy, to kill, but she shook her head and slammed into the ice wall in front of her, destroying the whole section with her newfound strength.

Voices began to pry at her psyche, mixing her thoughts of fear and worry with those of happiness and peace of mind. She could hardly separate her thoughts from new, making her stop for moments at a time and grip her head, shouting in pain. Her mind was suffering, her body was tired one moment and perfectly capable of anything the next. An intense heat felt like it was building in her body, numbing it and letting it work on it's own.

"Stop, get out of me!" She shouted, the voice perfectly mimicking her, frustrating her even further.

She slammed into the second wall of ice and blew it apart, as she kept moving, she suddenly saw a figure appear in front of her. It was Wave in his Grand Chariot Teigu, holding his arm out as if to tell her to stop.

While she wanted nothing more than to keep running, her body stopped, she wasn't even short of breath from the run, her mind felt like it was moving a million miles per hour though.

"I'm not going to let you escape." He said, Run also appeared shortly after, standing beside Wave in the same defensive manor.

Skyrah was still and silent for a minute, staring her two adversaries down. Then all of the sudden, she began to laugh, the two couldn't figure out why, and neither could Skyrah. It was a hysterical laugh, something that she was forcefully trying to stop doing, nothing right now was funny, she was in trouble and had to run.

Her body lunged forward, grabbing both fighters by their faces and picking them up, throwing Wave to the side into a destroyed piece of the ice wall and smashing Run into the ground.

Skyrah held back as much as she possibly could, but her body was hardly in her control anymore, and it wanted nothing more than to kill the two in front of her, rather than running before Esdeath followed.

Wave jumped up and swung his spear, slashing at Skyrah's body multiple times before stopping and kicking at her chest, all of the attacks being dodged by the incredibly fast girl.

Despite the powerful attacks, she was hardly cut and bled only from a few of the said cuts. Skyrah continued her barrage of attacks on both of the Jaegers, not caring whether or not she got hit by either of their powerful attacks. The two quickly backed off, realizing how little damage was being dealt to her body and how the close dodges hadn't deterred her at all from fighting.

Skyrah looked down at her body, not noticing a single bit of damage done to her. It made her angry. She charged the two and let loose, dodging their attacks and countering with her own, beating them until they stopped trying to attack her.

"We can't stop her by ourselves." Run said, receiving a nod from Wave.

Skyrah stepped forward. "You're right." She said, smiling. "Go get some help."

Run smirked. "We already got it."

Skyrah turned and caught Kurome's blade in her black metal hand, staring her down with her changed eye.

"Not again." Skyrah said, grabbing Kurome by her throat with one hand and her wrist with another.

Skyrah squeezed Kurome's wrist, feeling the bones buckle and snap as she crushed them underneath her hand. Kurome screamed, dropping her sword and trying her hardest to break free from Skyrah's grip on her neck.

"No!" Wave and Run rushed Skyrah from behind, but she turned again, punching Wave and kicking Run and momentarily debilitating the both of them.

Skyrah turned her head back, squeezing her right hand and watching Kurome's face slowly fill with panic and fear as her air was cut off.

Kurome's eyes filled with tears and quickly began to spill over as she was choked. She tried her best to cry out to anyone that would help her, but all that came out was a strangled yelp.

"You tried to kill me, shouldn't I return the favor?" Skyrah asked, narrowing her eyes in anger to the sister of Akame.

Akame.

Skyrah's eyes widened, she suddenly wasn't choking Kurome, she saw Akame in her arms, crying and begging for her to release her. The person she loved, was who she was killing.

Skyrah released Kurome, stepping back and slamming her eyes shut. Was this how far her Trump Card was willing to go? So far as to kill someone she loved, just because it enjoyed killing?

"No, I won't give in to you!" Skyrah shouted, feeling the thoughts of killing the people in front of her enter her mind again. "You don't control me, I control you!" She screamed, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.

"Yes it does, you are just a vessel for that beast." Esdeath said, walking up to Skyrah and holding her in a caring hug. "We are both monsters, that's what keeps us close." She whispered in the young girl's ear.

Skyrah pushed her away, glaring in anger at her captor.

"You're wrong!" She furiously growled. "I won't give in to these voices like you did!" Skyrah knew all about Esdeath's past, she knew about the blood that also flowed in her veins, it was the reason she had the tattoo on her chest.

"You already have, the mark on your eye shows it." Esdeath said, running her finger down the new marking on Skyrah's face with a bright smile. "Only people with the strongest will can have such a power, you know."

Skyrah slapped Esdeath's hand away. "Don't feed me that crap! You are weaker than all of us, the only reason you can possibly fight is because you gave in to that blood!" She shouted. "I won't become a monster like you did!"

Esdeath narrowed her eyes. "Skyrah, you know better than to speak to me like tha-"

"Don't talk to me like you're my mother!" Skyrah shouted. "My parents left when I lost my arms!" Tears began to pour out of her eyes.

Esdeath frowned, looking at the frightened and angry girl in pity. "Because… nobody wanted a child without limbs, or a disturbed mind like yours." Esdeath repeated the words Skyrah had told her years ago when they were introduced. "I won't pretend to know what that is like." She said.

"I should have never lived the day when my limbs were taken, but I did." Skyrah cried. "I gave myself a purpose, to protect others from evil people, I became a warrior." She said, wiping away her tears.

"You aren't protecting anyone when you work with Night Raid." Esdeath assured her.

Skyrah pointed her finger out, narrowing her eyes at Esdeath. The ice woman thought she saw a strange glint in Skyrah's black eye, but ignored it.

"I killed two people from the Jaegers, protecting countless helpless girls in a brothel." She said. "Two of your organization's members were murderers and disgusting pigs." Skyrah stomped her foot, as if to make her point. "I've done more good in Night Raid than the Jaegers will ever do!" She shouted.

Esdeath saw it again, a shimmer of white in Skyrah's eye, as well as her hair. They had both flashed from black to white for a split second, and her blackened metal arms and legs had slowly began to flake away, revealing a shimmering golden color.

"Skyrah, calm down, I knew nothing of this." She said, backing away.

Skyrah took a step forward, her left eye and hair slowly graying and becoming an ethereal white.

"Bullshit!" Skyrah yelled, slamming her fists together, making all of the black blast off and reveal golden metal arms and legs. Her marking over her left eye was the last to change from black to white, glowing brightly, much to Esdeath's shock. "I'm going to make you pay for what you've allowed to happen!"

"Esdeath, what is this power?" Wave cried, eyes wide at Skyrah's new body.

Esdeath took another step back, her power was different than before, this wasn't her Teigu taking control of her, this was the other way around. Skyrah had absorbed the power of Loputon Voima, and had the will to control it without completely falling apart.

Skyrah inspected her new body as well, she was amazed, the evil looking transformation had been completely replaced with bright and pure colors. Her body felt different as well, like it had grown much stronger, but in a different way than her Limit Break ability. Something inside her had vanished, and been born anew.

"Back away!" Esdeath said, holding her arms out as if to protect the people behind her. "Get them out of here!" She demanded Wave, who took ahold of both Run and Kurome without question and ran away with them over his shoulders.

Skyrah yelled, releasing a cry that was purely her own voice. "I will forever be in control of my own body, no matter what you do to me!"

Esdeath reached for her sword, but Skyrah reared back and headbutted her, making her vision blur and her body be thrown into her own wall of ice. She got to her feet, ready to fight but was surprised to see the girl had vanished, having turned tail and ran.

Regardless of what she wanted to do to Esdeath, whatever had happened to her body was making her feel like her body was on fire, like her blood was literally boiling in her veins. Her head was pounding in pain, not even from her attack on Esdeath, but from whatever was happening inside. Her heart was beating faster than it had ever before, and she had began to sweat profusely.

Her legs were giving out, they had taken her further than she had thought they would, but it still wasn't where she needed to be. She needed to reach Night Raid's base, that was what she wanted more than anything.

"Come… on…" She grit her teeth, taking step after step. "I can't… stop… here." Skyrah's golden metal limbs had slowly returned to their normal metallic steel color, as well as her eye, and her strange marking had vanished, but her hair retained its pure white color, but lost all of its new length.

She gripped her head, the pain had become a dull throbbing, and what seemed like fire in her blood had been cooled, leaving her on her hands and knees, staring at the ground in agony.

"There!" She heard a voice call.

They were going to take her. Drag her right back to that hellhole, she didn't want to know what was going to happen to her, if whatever was happening to her now didn't kill her, the Jaegers surely would.

She heard two pairs of feet run up beside her. "Skyrah? God, what did they do to you?" She was picked up and held bridal style. Her eyes slowly focused on the pair that had come to her, it wasn't any of Esdeath's men, it was Leone and Mine.

The two let out a gathered sigh when Skyrah opened her eyes, and both smiled brightly.

"I knew we'd find you!" Mine said happily.

"Let's get out of here, Mine, we need to get her back and figure out what's happened." Leone said, adjusting Skyrah in her arms before taking off with Mine in what Skyrah assumed was the way back to the Night Raid hideout.

Skyrah gave a weak smile to her saviors. "Thank you… thank you…" She mumbled before closing her eyes.


	13. Chapter 13: Kill The Sadness

**Chapter 13**

 **Kill The Sadness**

As they arrived, Leone burst through the door, quickly clearing off of a table and gently placing Skyrah on it, her body was no different but her hair had everyone scared. Especially Akame, who was trying her best to hold back tears as Skyrah was shaken and called out to, yet still remained unresponsive.

"What happened?" Najenda asked as calmly as she could, although she was still shaking from the sudden revelation of finding Skyrah.

"We don't know, we found her like this in the middle of the woods." Mine said, leaning over the table and inspecting Skyrah's body for any wounds.

"You two, out." Leone said, pointing at Tatsumi and Rhys, who both stood as confused and shocked as everyone else. "We're stripping her down, she could be poisoned."

"Rhys is as close to a doctor as we have." Najenda warned, looking at the young man. "Don't do anything weird, this is her life in your hands." She said.

Rhys nodded as Tatsumi was pushed out, walking up to the table and watching as Skyrah was stripped down to her underwear, fully focused on helping her.

After quickly inspecting her front side, he lifted her over onto her side so she could check her back, finding nothing out of the ordinary except for a few old scars and a couple bruises on her body. He knew she had been fighting, she had bruises that could be nothing else. Most of them weren't extremely recent though, maybe a day or two old.

"Nothing on the outside is wrong." He said. "If she was poisoned on the inside, there's no way for me to tell, aside from her skin color, which is normal." He explained, focused on his job as Night Raid's sole medic.

"Her hair…" Akame said slowly. "What about that?"

It seemed everybody else had the same question.

"I have no idea." He said simply.

Leone picked him up by his collar in anger. "How can you have no idea?!" She shouted.

"Because I've never seen someone's hair color change, in any medical abnormality!" He shouted, back. "Have you?!"

Leone dropped him and turned back to Skyrah. "Come on, girl, you gotta wake back up." She said. "We saved you, you're finally home, and you're gonna die on us?"

Skyrah's eyes opened and she began to turn her head, slowly looking over everyone in the room, then down at herself.

Rhys leaned over her, looking into her emerald eyes.

Skyrah extended her fist, slamming it into the underside of Rhys' chin and standing up on the table.

"Why is he in the room when I'm practically naked?!" She shouted in anger.

Akame jumped into her arms, tears pouring out of her eyes in happiness. Her girlfriend was alive, and seemingly healthy. She squeezed her friend in a tight hug, and quickly received the same treatment from Skyrah.

"I-I… didn't think I'd see you again…" Akame sobbed, pressing her face into Skyrah's chest.

Leone came with a blanket and wrapped it around Skyrah to cover her up as Tatsumi was let back in and Rhys recovered from the punch.

"I told you I'd be back." Skyrah said with a smile, hugging back.

All members of Night Raid crowded around with big smiles on their faces.

Najenda turned, looking to a wall where pictures of lost Night Raid members were hung up, smiling like they were there, and happy to see Skyrah back.

"They'd love this." Leone said, standing next to Najenda as the two real adults of Night Raid.

Najenda nodded. "Yeah, they would." She said with a smile. "I'm sure they're smiling down on us."

The two returned to the group with big smiles, all crowding around their returned member.

"Skyrah, I know you might not feel like it, but we need to ask you some questions." Najenda said after the initial celebration. Other members had split off to set up a welcome back celebration, only Akame, Leone and Najenda remained around her, they had all moved into the living room, sitting in front of the fireplace which burned brightly. "I understand if you're tired, but-"

"I feel fine, Najenda." Skyrah said, facing the fire and noticing the light hitting Akame's face, who was currently leaning against her with the blanket Skyrah was using as a cover around her as well. "I don't know how, but I feel as normal as ever."

Leone smiled softly, eyeing Akame, who had her eyes closed as she still had refused to let go of Skyrah. "I haven't ever seen Akame like this." She said. "We're all happy you're back, Skyrah." With a smile she leaned back in the large fluffy chair that sat across from Skyrah and Akame's couch.

Najenda also sat in a chair near the couch, but seemed anything but relaxed.

"Your body recovers fast, but you looked like you were dead on that table, Skyrah." Najenda said, her voice full of worry. "You were hardly breathing, how is it you feel fine?"

Skyrah looked down at Akame again, who still wore a smile on her face. "I told you, I don't know." She said, but Najenda could tell something was being hidden from them.

"Yes you do, you know something." Najenda said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "So what is it?"

Skyrah didn't want her Teigu's Trump Card to have anything to do with them, it could ruin what they had together, it could scare them away from her, she didn't want to lose the ones she cared about.

"Fine, when you think you can tell us, we would like to know." Najenda said. "But at least explain your hair, what did they do to you?"

"They're both the same reason." Skyrah said in a monotone voice, realizing that this was no longer a secret she could keep.

So she told them everything.

They were obviously surprised, but their response was much different than what Skyrah had expect, she was ready to be feared by the people closest to her, but they gave her hope that she had gained control over her Trump Card. Skyrah was still not convinced, she still didn't want to use it. It made her feel like a monster, something she didn't want to be.

"You said you've felt different since the transformation ended, what do you mean by that?" Leone asked, holding her hand under her chin.

Skyrah shrugged. "I can't really explain it, I feel like I have Limit Break activated, even though I know I don't." She said, looking at her newly colored hair.

Akame sat up for the first time during their talk. "When I used Murasame's Trump Card, my normal body adapted to the new strength, and got stronger afterwards." She explained. "I think you went through the same thing, that's probably why your hair is white now."

Skyrah sighed. "How though?" She asked. "The human body doesn't get stronger just like that, that's why I train so much." She explained.

"But remember, you don't just have human blood in your veins." Najenda said. "The strength of the golem may have been able to push you past human limits, plus your training with Esdeath." Najenda speculated, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"This is stressing me out, come on, we have a party to attend." Leone said with a relieved sigh. "I think you're the guest of honor, Skyrah." Leone stood up and held her hand out to Skyrah.

"I'm still practically naked." Skyrah deadpanned.

"Right." Leone said. "I'll go get something for you to wear from your room." With that, she happily sped off through one of the corridors that led to Skyrah's room.

Skyrah and Akame both watched as Najenda left the room, heading to where the others had disappeared to in the kitchen nodding at the two with a smile.

"Nobody will blame you if you just go get some rest..." Akame asked with a worried voice. "You looked like you were going to die on that table."

Skyrah pulled the covers over Akame and her head and pressed their lips together in a passionate kiss. After a few moments, Skyrah pulled away from an advancing Akame. "I'm fine, really." She said. "I feel great, especially after that."

Akame kissed Skyrah again, pinning her lover against the arm of the couch and holding the kiss. She too felt great after their kiss, but it wasn't enough, she had almost two weeks of love to give Skyrah.

"I don't want to ever lose you like that again." Akame said in between the loving kisses the two were sharing. "None of us do."

Skyrah finally began to realize just how long she had been gone, it hit her like a train how worried the group must have been with her gone for over a week, she could have been killed, obviously she wasn't, but they hadn't known she was safe.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't… thinking…" Skyrah said, feeling tears begin to well in her eyes as the two stayed in their loving embrace. "I was being selfish."

Akame shook her head. "No, you were just being optimistic, like always." She said with a big smile. "We're glad you're okay."

"I…" Skyrah started, before finding herself being lost in Akame's beautiful crimson eyes. "I love you." She had said it before, but this felt different, the two had just been reunited, and their hearts were now keeping each other company once again.

Akame must have also noticed the different nature of the phrase that time. A blush had spread all across her face, and the tears in her eyes began to spill over. "And I love you." She smiled, leaning in and kissing Skyrah again.

"I'm sure you two have a lot to make up for, but don't you think it can wait?" Leone's voice mocked as she pulled the covers off the two, making the now flustered girls split apart, both blushing heavily at Leone's laughing. "Here, put this on." Leone threw a grey tank top and dark blue gym shorts onto Skyrah, which she quickly clothed herself with.

"Thank you, Leone." Skyrah said with a nod. Leone pulled her and Akame up, leading both of them into the kitchen, where four smiling faces greeted the three of them.

"Skyrah, how old are you?" Najenda asked, holding a bottle of alcohol in her hand.

Skyrah blushed, she had never really been one to drink. "I turned 17 about two weeks ago." She said.

Leone's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell us?!" She asked in confusion.

"I didn't think it was a big deal, it's not a very special age." She said, touching her fingers together in embarrassment.

"Come on, we're going to get you a drink for a late birthday present." Leone pushed her forwards, Akame following with a big smile.

Someone turned music on in the room, but it was just quiet enough it wasn't overpowering.

"Really, I've never drank, I'm alright." She said, remembering that the first thing she did when arriving was buy alcohol for Budo, she had never planned to drink it though.

"Never drank?!" Leone cried, pushing a strange bottle and two small glasses in front of her as she sat down. "Then you really have to try some."

"This is called peer pressure, you know." She whined, not sure if she wanted to drink. "Akame, you don-"

As she laid eyes on Akame, the barely older girl was drinking with no regret. It actually confused Skyrah, Akame didn't seem like the type to drink, but at the same time, nobody in Night Raid really did.

"Come on, just throw it back, easy as that!" Leone poured the brown liquid into the two shot glasses and easily took it, smiling and shivering after she was done.

"Fine." Skyrah said, picking up the glass and examining it for a moment before drinking it.

Najenda snickered, as did Tatsumi and Mine.

Skyrah immediately felt an intense burning sensation stream down her throat, making her choke and regret her decision immediately.

"You gave her overseas whiskey as her first drink." Rhys said. "That's cruel, incredibly cruel."

Skyrah cried out in agony. "Did you make me drink _fire_?!" She cried.

"Here, drink this." Mine gave her another drink that looked like water.

"Bless you Mine." Skyrah took the drink and threw it back in the same fashion, feeling an even more intense burn than before.

Mine broke out into hysterical laughter as Skyrah fell to the floor, holding her throat in pain and confusion.

"Followed by Vodka." Rhys said, quietly keeping to himself. "I'm beginning to think you are all sadists."

"I'll kill you!" Skyrah jumped up and began to chase Mine, who easily avoided the pained girl.

Mine still giggled as the she was chased. "Not my fault you're so easy to trick."

Najenda eventually stopped Skyrah, giving her an actual bottle of water. "Here." She snickered.

"Ha!" Skyrah laughed. "Think I'll fall for it twice?" She defiantly rejected the water.

"Fine, whatever makes you happy." Najenda said, downing the water.

Skyrah turned and grabbed the bottle that Leone had originally poured out for her, pointing at Mine. "I'll prove I can drink more than you any day, lightweight!" She challenged.

"Oh?" Mine raised an eyebrow, walking over to Skyrah and slamming down two more shot glasses. "You're on!" She cried.

"I think you two should calm it down." Tatsumi tried to interfere, but was shoved away by both girls.

"Back off!" They said in unison.

Skyrah was the first to act, pouring two shot glasses full and taking both of them, trying her best to not show the horrible pain in her stomach.

"Easy!" Mine did the same, licking her lips afterwards and sliding the glasses over to Skyrah, who repeated.

The two went on for about a full ten minutes, downing about eight drinks each before both suddenly shifted gears.

"I can- _hic!_ easily do more!" Skyrah said, her words becoming slurred as she tried to pick up her glass, dropping it in the process.

"Ha!" Mine laughed. "Let me… let meeee… show you how to do it." She giggled, picking up a single glass in throwing it back, completely missing her mouth and throwing the liquid onto the wall behind her.

"I think you two are about done." Leone said, leaning in the middle of the two and holding them close, she was obviously tipsy, but much less more than the two she currently was pressing onto both sides of her breasts.

The three broke out into laughter all at once, everyone around, despite hardly having drank, also joined in on the laughter.

Akame smiled, she could feel alcohol in her system, giving her a comfortable warmth in her stomach.

"It's nice to see her smile again." Tatsumi said, sitting beside Akame and watching the three girls at the other end of the room having a great time.

"Yeah, it is." Akame smiled with a blush.

"It makes you forget about the stuff that goes on around us." He smiled. "It's nice."

Akame nodded, facing Tatsumi who wore a calm smile on his face. "What are you thinking about?"

Tatsumi was taken out of his thoughts. "Just how we all got here, I remember meeting you guys like it was yesterday." He said. "Have you ever asked Skyrah about what she did before she went overseas for her training?"

Akame closed her eyes and smiled. "She was trying to become a soldier so she could help protect people." She said.

"Wasn't that before she got Loputon Voima?" He asked. "How could she become a soldier without limbs?"

Akame narrowed her eyes, Skyrah had explained this to her, and it wasn't pretty to hear. "She built her own arms after the incident, then was adopted by Esdeath and trained with her and Budo." She explained. "Just before she left, Budo gave her the Teigu, the whole reason she left was to train her new Teigu."

Tatsumi was shocked. "So, Skyrah is Esdeath's daughter?" He asked.

"Technically yes, but she said she always saw Budo as a parent rather than Esdeath." Akame revealed, facing him. "She was raised by our enemies, Tatsumi, if we hadn't found her that day she arrived, she'd probably be our enemy too." She explained.

"Skyrah… against us?" Tatsumi couldn't imagine that, he considered her a friend and ally, he couldn't visualize her as an enemy.

Akame nodded. "We showed her what Esdeath and the Government truly was, but if Esdeath had found her first, she would have never seen the corruption." She said. "It's strange to think about really."

"Very strange." Tatsumi agreed, watching as Mine and Skyrah happily kept each other's company. "She's a lot like me, she wanted to be a soldier so she could help people, just like I did."

"But she actually was a soldier." Akame mocked.

Tatsumi blushed. "If Leone wouldn't have robbed me, I probably would have been too!" He growled.

Akame broke out in laughter and was quickly joined by Tatsumi.

Mine and Skyrah were suddenly behind both of their significant others, both looking defensive as they draped their arms around them.

"You aren't trying to make any moves on Tatsumi are you, Akame?" Mine growled.

Skyrah got even more defensive. "Akame wouldn't do that, it's Tatsumi that's doing it!" She pointed at Tatsumi, who wore a blush identical to Akame's.

"I don't think so, Tatsumi and I have done things together you two could only dream of doing!" Mine laughed.

Tatsumi's face grew even redder than before.

"Oh yeah? We've done things you two have never even heard of!" Skyrah retorted.

"Like what?!" Mine shouted.

Both Akame and Tatsumi stood up at once, holding their hands over their respective lovers.

"We're off to bed." The two said together, looking at each other strangely.

"Us too." They said in unison again.

The duo's split off quickly, waving and saying goodnight to everyone else before dragging their girlfriends to bed.

Akame released Skyrah when they got in her room, ready to walk out after Skyrah had promptly jumped onto her bed.

"Wait!" Skyrah said, holding her arm out for Akame.

"Skyrah, you're drunk, you need to go to sleep." Akame said, halfway out the door of the hardly lit room.

"I know, but I need you for a second." Skyrah whined, holding out both of her arms.

Akame was ready to leave, but she couldn't resist the begging of her cute and drunk girlfriend.

"What?" She came to the edge of the bed, where she suddenly saw a large grin appear on Skyrah's face.

"Gotcha!" Skyrah lunged for Akame, grabbing her and pulling her into the bed with her, taking her under the covers so Akame was laying on top of her, Skyrah let her hand travel down Akame's back and under her skirt, groping her and releasing a perverted giggle.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Akame blushed, never thinking Skyrah would advance on her like this, it wasn't all bad though.

"Gotcha." Skyrah repeated, kissing the girl on top of her deeply and falling back down onto her pillow.

Akame tasted the alcohol in Skyrah's mouth mix with her own. "You're weird." She said as Skyrah continued to grope her backside.

Skyrah giggled and closed her eyes, stopping what she was doing with her hands so she could squeeze Akame in a hug. "I'm tired, Akame." She said.

"I bet you are." Akame said, letting Skyrah hold her.

Akame could feel Skyrah's heartbeat mix with the sounds of her own. The laughter of her friends could be heard through the cracked door, everything was perfect again, everyone was happy and Skyrah was back. She leaned to the side and pushed the door closed until she heard the snap of it closing, then fell back into Skyrah's arms, loving the feeling of being held again.

"I love you." Skyrah said in a half asleep voice.

Akame smiled, Skyrah was pretty much asleep, but she still managed to get those three words out.

"I love you." Akame replied with a smile, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep with Skyrah.


	14. Chapter 14: Rhys

**Chapter 14**

 **Rhys**

 _ **1 Year Before Skyrah's Arrival…**_

Cobalt Roar, a name known by few people outside of the Revolutionary Army, was a brand new group created to carry out tasks the assassination group Night Raid was not fit for. Unlike their sister group, they were placed on the frontlines of battle as elite soldiers. They were all given names of animals they were most like, six members in all.

Dragon, Bear, Fox, Wolf, Shark and Owl.

Rhys had found his way into the group after being known as the best medic in the Revolutionary Army, and was made a VIP by Cobalt Roar, becoming their newest member in the blink of an eye. He was glad the team spoke fluent English, and were happy to help teach him Japanese.

He had tried his best to fit in with the group, tending to any wound they would come back with, or following them into extremely dangerous situations and supporting the battle from the sides. He could defend himself well though, he was highly skilled in multiple types of martial arts, and was equipped with the Spectator Teigu, allowing him to see his enemies attacks coming.

"Aye, Owl." Shark snapped his fingers in front of Rhys' face, giving a large grin to the seemingly distraught young man. "What's wrong with you, yer' actin' real funny lately."

Rhys sighed. "I don't know, I just don't have a good feeling about this mission." He admitted, putting his face in his hands. "Something feels wrong."

The old, grey haired sailor sat down next to the boy, slapping him in the back. "Yer' just gettin' antsy to fight someone, happened to me when I was yer' age." He said in his strange slang. "I'm sure Fox can relieve some of your stress." He elbowed his young friend and winked at him.

"I can, but Owl is always so busy." Fox walked into the room with her arms crossed. She sat down in his lap, holding him tightly. "Do you still have more work to do tonight."

He shook his head, feeling a little embarrassed from the advances of his girlfriend. She always knew how to make him feel at ease, her voice alone was enough to soothe him for hours. During the six months he had been a part of Cobalt Roar, him and Fox had clicked since they first met, and it didn't take long for them to have developed a romantic relationship.

"Esdeath's blood can't be analyzed overnight, babe." He sighed, wrapping his arms gently around her waist. "If spilt her blood and the blood she consumed, we may be able to replicate it and use it against her." He explained.

"I know, you've told me a hundred times." Fox whined, pursing her lips in mild frustration. "I still don't understand why it has you up all night." She said.

"Aye, how much longer do you think it's gonna take, Owl?" Shark asked, crossing his giant arms and raising an eyebrow. "We got the sample from Esdeath's lost arm almost a year ago."

"I'm close, maybe a few more days and it will be perfectly split." Rhys said, narrowing his eyes. "Then when I send it to my colleagues in the army, it will take about another month to weaponize." He explained.

"Right, before I'm bored to death from your science chat, I'm going to go get ready for the mission tomorrow." Fox said, hopping off of Rhys' lap and pecking him on the cheek. "Come to bed at a reasonable hour tonight, please." With that, she made her way out of the large room within the military base.

"Young love is beautiful." Shark laughed, receiving an elbow from Rhys.

Rhys stood up and made his way into his laboratory, where he sat down and released a large sigh.

"Owl, you're here early." Bear made his way into the lab, wearing a heavy winter coat and snow boots, tracking in some of the melted snow from outside.

"Bear, as a scientist you must know the importance of a clean lab." Rhys said while looking through a microscope, having already seen the melted snow on his way in.

Bear laughed. "Well aren't you responsible." He mocked, waving it off. "I'll clean it up later."

"You'll clean it now, I don't need to be distracted." Rhys demanded, spinning around in his chair and glaring at the old man.

Even though Rhys was younger, he was well respected by Bear as a fellow scientist, and despite his younger age, Rhys was very professional when it came to his work. Even though he was a bit of a pervert when he wasn't busy. The young man was a prodigy and a genius, he even chipped in multiple times when discussing tactics with the leader of the group, Dragon.

Dragon was intimidating to almost everyone due to his massive size and body of solid muscle, but Rhys and him got along very well, despite the clear differences in their body types. While he had a good relationship with the leader, he had difficulty ever getting along with Wolf, a born and bred fighter from a very remote part of the country, who constantly tried to get in between Rhys and Fox's relationship.

Rhys snapped his fingers. "You listening?" He asked the daydreaming Bear.

"Yeah, I'll clean it now." Bear said, running off to get cleaning supplies.

Rhys turned back to his work, focusing completely on what he needed to do.

It was definitely not a reasonable hour of night, the evening had quickly changed into the night, and that changed to the very early morning.

Rhys snuck into his own tent that he shared with Fox, slowly lowering himself down next to her sleeping body and finding a way under the covers, trying his best not to disturb her. She looked so beautiful in the dim candlelight, her orange hair that was normally in a ponytail was let free, spreading across her pillow like a building fire. Her body made no movements other than her breathing, which could barely be heard throughout the small room. Her body was resting and rejuvenating for yet another unavoidable day of turmoil against corrupted forces.

Even with him moving as slowly as he could, her peaceful rest was disturbed by a slight touch. She rolled over and opened her eyes slowly, revealing two blazing bright orange eyes.

"Rhys?" She called him by his real name, which only she and Dragon knew in their group. It was a such a little thing to do, but it made him smile.

"Hey, beautiful." He said, he avoided saying her name, knowing she hated being called it. "I can't describe how you look right now. It's breathtaking." He smiled, leaning in and kissing her.

As the two parted, Fox gave him a warm smile. "You're sweet." She said, reaching under the covers and pulling herself into his chest, curling up against him.

Rhys couldn't shake his smile as he closed his eyes, holding his girlfriend close to his body.

"Don't let go." She said suddenly.

"What?" Rhys asked, looking down at Fox, who didn't look up at him.

"Don't let go." She repeated.

"Are you okay?" Rhys asked.

His eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks as she looked up at him, she was bleeding from the top of her head and there were tears in her eyes.

"Don't let go!" She shouted.

The world around Rhys was torn apart and quickly put back together.

Instead of being in bed, Rhys was hanging off the side of a cliff, holding onto the edge with his right arm and gripping Fox's hand with his left as the two dangled off the side of what seemed to be an endless drop into certain death.

Two people stood on top of the cliff, looking down at them with amusement in their eyes. He would never forget those faces, the faces of the two that annihilated the group of people he cared so much about.

Kurome. She had single handedly killed both Bear and Dragon in just a couple attacks, she cut them down quickly and effectively, not even being scratched by either of their attacks. Then there was Wave, who quickly took care of Shark and Wolf right in front of the others before they could even react. Rhys' two fellow Cobalt Roar members were blown apart by Wave's devastating strength.

Then came the final remaining members, Fox and him. They were helpless, the large amount of soldiers they had traveled with as extra protection were decimated by those two within seconds.

"Please." Rhys begged, starting to feel the strain in his two arms.

"Please?" Kurome laughed. "Like we'd save you two criminals."

Wave nodded, turning away and walking off.

Kurome sat beside the cliff, conveniently placing her heel on Rhys' fingers that he desperately grasped the side of the cliff with. She soon pulled out her sword and slowly snaked it down to Rhys' shoulder, slowly slicing through his clothing and soon his skin, slicing right against the stretched skin so it began to pull itself apart the longer he held on.

Rhys screamed out in pain as his skin pulled itself apart. The burning sensation in his arms amplified from the new pain in his shoulder. He looked down to Fox, who had been beaten badly on the top of her head by Kurome. She desperately held to him with tears in her eyes and blood running down her face.

"Don't let go!" She shouted, trying to get any leverage.

Rhys felt Kurome's blade slide against his skin again, making another wave of pain scream through his body.

"Damn you!" He shouted up at Kurome. "I'll kill you, you hear me?!" He screamed.

"Oh?" Kurome giggled, stabbing the end of her blade into his wound and making him scream in agony.

Rhys looked down at Fox, gritting his teeth and beginning to swing his weight from side to side, making the pain in his shoulder hurt even worse as his skin ripped more and more from the strain.

"Run!" He said, getting as much momentum as he could and throwing Fox up onto the top of the cliff, where she got up and quickly ran away.

"Wave, I'm chasing her!" Kurome ran off, allowing Rhys to use both of his arms and start to pull himself up with his little remaining strength.

Just as he got his head above the cliffside, a boot met his head, kicking him off the side and sending him into free-fall.

"Bastard."

 _That was the last thing Rhys heard as he fell into the endless pit below him._

Rhys sprung out of bed in shock. He felt like he was still falling, his arms hurt, his mind was racing, his heart pounded and sweat poured down his body. He raised his left hand over his head, placing it over the wound Kurome had given him and being met with a scar.

His door opened and he immediately reacted, reaching under his pillow and pulling his pistol, pointing it directly at whoever had entered.

Skyrah stood frozen in shock, her pupils tiny from the adrenaline shooting through her body. Her eyes were locked on the weapon pointed directly at her chest.

Rhys' body slowly relaxed as the trance inflicted by his dream faded away. He lowered the gun and looked down at it in horror, knowing he could have just killed one of his fellow members of Night Raid.

"Sorry." He said slowly. "I had a nightmare, you walked in at a bad time."

Skyrah was still tense, but tried to crack a smile. "No… uh, it's fine." She said unconvincingly. "Sorry I scared you." She said, walking over to the side of his bed and sitting on the side of it.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"What are _you_ doing?" She repeated back to him. "Is something bothering you?" She asked, looking worried.

Rhys sighed. "When you were at Esdeath's camp, did you see a girl there?" He asked. "About my age, your height, she has long orange hair, eyes like a red fox, and pale skin." He described, grabbing Skyrah by the shoulders,much to her surprise.

Skyrah thought carefully, realizing this must be important to him. "No, there weren't very many girls there… why?"

Rhys released Skyrah and sighed again, looking down at his closed fists. "She's important to me, and I know she's alive, I just don't know where." He said.

No matter how little the chances were of her surviving or getting away, Rhys knew in his gut that Fox was still alive, he just didn't know where.

A chill went up Kurome's spine as she walked across the camp where Esdeath's soldiers continued their construction of their new HQ. She couldn't tell where it had come from, she wasn't thinking of anything strange, in fact she was pretty sure she wasn't thinking much at all. But yet it had come and gone within a split second.

She shook off the strange feeling and continued to her large tent. As she entered, she looked down at the food she carried in her hands, a fresh apple, bread and a bottle of water. Like usual.

"Master!" Kurome looked in the corner of the room, where a large cage held a young naked woman, her hair had grown so long it covered her eyes and began to cover parts of her nude body. Her large orange tail wagged back and forth and her ears perked up as Kurome grew close to the cage.

"Hello, darling." Kurome said, unlocking the cage and entering it slowly so the wild girl couldn't escape, locking it behind her. "Are you hungry?" She asked.

The girl nodded her head and wagged her tail, Kurome held out the apple and it was snatched out of her hand, quickly consumed by the feral human.

Kurome looked down at her small hand, which now had a small scratch down the palm of it that was barely leaking crimson blood, caused by the animal claws that took the apple. She clenched her teeth and faced her 'pet', grabbing her by the top of her head as she tried to quickly consume the apple given to her and slammed her into the side of the steel cage.

"You scratched me, you bitch!" Kurome growled as she let go of the girl. "You need to be punished, now."

The orange haired girl crouched in a corner as if Kurome wouldn't see her there, her ears drooping in fear. "I'm sorry, Master, I didn't mean-"

Kurome cut her off by slapping her in the face, jumping on top of her and clenching her hands around the orange haired girl's throat.

"Do you have a deathwish, Fox?" Kurome growled, hitting her again. "Or are you just as stupid as ever?!" Kurome hit Fox again and again until she suddenly felt a warm wetness against her leg.

She looked down and realized Fox had begun to urinate out of fear, Kurome was disgusted, this wasn't the first time this had happened, but she was going to make sure it was the last.

"Do you remember what I said last time?!" Kurome shouted, grabbing Fox by the back of her head again and making her look down at the liquid that had spread across the floor. "Do you?!"

"It… it was an accident…" Fox whimpered, her body shaking in fear.

"An accident that you'll pay for!" Kurome shoved Fox's face down into the putrid yellow liquid on the ground, rubbing her face in it as she struggled against Kurome's force with what little strength she had in her skinny body. "You don't like this, do you?!"

Kurome eventually stopped, kicking Fox to the side and taking the water and bread with her as she exited the cage.

"No more food today." Kurome said. "Clean that up before I get back, or you'll regret it." She growled, looking back at her pet.

"Yes, Master." Fox sobbed, her bangs and hair that had fallen in her face soaked by her own urine sticking to her dripping face. "I'm sorry."

Kurome turned back and smiled brightly, making Fox's eyes light up with happiness.

"I know you are, so be a good girl and fix what you did." She cooed. "I love you, Foxy."

Fox wagged her tail some more, all she wanted was her Master's approval and love. "I love you too, Master."

Kurome exited the tent with a smile on her face, leaving Fox alone.


	15. Chapter 15: Kill The Wild Hunt

**Chapter 15**

 **Kill The Wild Hunt**

Skyrah was still confused as to what happened that morning with Rhys, but had tried her best to brush it off. He didn't want to talk about it, and she wasn't about to pry for details of something he obviously didn't want to talk about. It was the same way she didn't want to talk about her past in the beginning, it may take awhile, but he should end up trusting them enough to tell. He had given her a little bit of insight about the person he was looking for, her name was Fox.

"Skyrah, I need you focused." Akame said, the two had been walking through the forest for the past few minutes, there had been a fire off in the distance that morning and was rumored to be foul play. "We don't know what we're getting into out here."

Skyrah looked over to her girlfriend who watched her with worried eyes. "Sorry, I was just zoning out." She said with a chuckle.

Akame pursed her lips. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"I think I'm just a little nervous, I haven't been on a mission in a while." She replied, she wasn't telling Akame the full truth, but she was feeling a little nervous.

Without hesitation, Akame got close to Skyrah and leaned in, pecking her softly on the cheek.

A loud laughter was suddenly heard overhead of the two girls, making them both immediately look up at the source.

In the tree above them was Mia Valion, grinning down at them.

"Sissy's got a girlfriend, how cute." She mocked, hopping into another tree away from them. "Come on, I've got a surprise for you two!" She darted through the trees, knowing the two would follow her with haste.

That they did, sprinting after the girl and eventually making their way into a clearing where Mia was waiting.

"Ever been here, Sissy?" She howled with laughter.

The charred and smoldering clearing around them was what remained of the beautiful floral town Skyrah had once visited before she met Kurome and Run. Homes and shops had been burned to the ground, bodies laid in blackened piles on the sides of the dirt roads and there was no sign of any former beauty the town once had.

"Mia, what have you done?!" Skyrah shouted. "These people were innocent!"

"Don't think it was just me, Sissy." Mia laughed, pointing behind a building where Champ and Cosmina made their way next to the still giggling Mia.

"First time we've met, beautiful." Cosmina said, smiling innocently at Skyrah. "Don't worry, I'll be the one you love after we kill your girlfriend." She licked her lips as she sized up Skyrah's body.

Skyrah was in shock. "H-how are you even alive?!" She yelled, pointing at a one-armed Champ.

Champ roared in laughter. "Esdeath didn't finish the job, and now she's not going to save you." He said.

"Say, Sissy, when did you dye your hair?" Mia asked in confusion.

"Really brings out those pretty eyes." Cosmina giggled, running her hands down her body. "You are irresistible, really."

Akame and Skyrah looked over at each other, then back at the group.

"Neither of us are giving in to you." Akame said, unsheathing her sword.

Skyrah nodded. "You're all going to pay for what you did here."

"We'll remember that when we're cutting Akame up." Champ said, licking his lips.

Skyrah's pupils shrunk as she charged in, plowing Champ over and dragging him to the ground.

"You die today." She whispered, rearing back and smashing her fist into his face.

Suddenly, an ear splitting blast of noise threw Skyrah off of Champ, who covered his ears in pain from the intense pressure.

Skyrah opened her eyes to see Cosmina cheerfully shouting into a small microphone, creating a pressurized blast of sound that cracked the earth beneath them.

Akame rushed in behind Cosmina, kicking her directly in the back and launching her away before she could continue her assault.

With her ears still ringing, Skyrah got to her feet and grabbed Champ off the ground, lifting him over her head and slamming him into the ground again and again. She couldn't hear it, but something had broken in his back, eliciting a loud scream from the clown.

"Come here, Sissy!" Mia tackled Skyrah out from under the screaming Champ, pinning her to the ground and getting close in her face as Akame fought off Cosmina.

Mia had said something, but Skyrah's hearing had only just begun to come back and her mind was still boggled from the noise.

Despite Mia's strength, Skyrah pressed upwards, lifting Mia off until she had to jump away. Skyrah was confused, she still hadn't used Limit Break, but she was able to fight on equal terms with Mia, who had pounded her the last time they had met until she had used her ability.

"What is this?!" Mia shouted in frustration, charging in and hitting Skyrah across the face.

Skyrah pressed back against the punch, grabbing a bewildered Mia by her throat and hitting her again and again in her stomach until she dropped her in a heap on the ground.

"Fine, if you're not holding back, neither will I!" Mia struggled to her feet and pressed her hand against her chest. "Unbesiegbar: Heart of the Beast!" Skyrah was thrown back by the sudden power up.

"Her Trump Card has been used." Cosmina grinned at Akame as the two continued their fight. "It's over for you two."

"Skyrah's stronger than ever, you don't stand a chance." Akame retorted calmly, making Cosmina lash out in anger.

Skyrah got to her feet quickly, looking over Mia's changed body.

Her skin had gained a scaly and dry appearance and her muscles tightened as if preparing to be hit anywhere in her body and stayed like that. Her clothes had been ripped to a tattered mess from the burst of power and barely clung to her body. The signature smile she always wore had gained two extremely sharp looking canine teeth, giving her an evil appearance.

"Ready to die, Sissy?" Mia smiled, pointing at Skyrah.

Skyrah nodded. "Come and get me." She said with a grin.

Mia growled. "I'll wipe that smile off your face!" She roared, closing the gap between her and Skyrah and throwing a wild punch.

Skyrah grabbed Mia's punching arm and pushed it aside, releasing an uppercut with her free hand into Mia's core.

Mia took a few steps back from the powerful punch, surprising everyone on the battlefield. She looked up at Skyrah and broke out into laughter. "I didn't feel a thing!" She howled. "You're weak, Sissy, and it's going to get you killed!"

Skyrah narrowed her eyes, she had put everything into that punch, and Mia hadn't even felt it. She had already realized her strength had increased like Akame had said, but it wasn't enough to combat Mia's Trump.

"Loputon Voima: 150 percent." She said, feeling the light pressure on her body. She knew she could go higher, but she needed to see just how strong Mia was in that form.

"Ha!" Mia laughed. "You've gotten cocky, Sissy, you needed 250 percent and Infinite Blitz to beat me last time!" She cried.

Akame was also watching the fight as she defended herself from Cosmina, who was surprisingly well trained in combat without her Teigu. Mia was right, Skyrah did need to use her full power when they last fought, but now it was different.

Skyrah ran right back into battle with Mia, stopping in front of her and waiting as Mia threw a punch to counter her advance. Skyrah grabbed the arm again and pulled the two close, clotheslining Mia with her own momentum. As Mia got to her feet, Skyrah rotated on one foot, jumping up into the air and striking Mia across the face with a powerful falling kick, flooring Mia once again.

"I-impossible…" Mia said in pain, there was no way she should have felt that kick, Skyrah had barely even powered up yet. "Die!" She leapt up, but was swatted away with a quick backhand.

"I'm not going to kill you." Skyrah said with tears in her eyes. "I can't…" She said.

"Why?!" Mia growled from the ground, grabbing Skyrah's ankle.

 _2 years earlier…_

 _Skyrah lie awake in bed, staring up into the star-filled night sky. She was awake, but her mind drifted slowly, remembering her responsibilities the next day and what things she had gone through that day. She had stayed at the biggest martial arts temple in England for only a few months, but she had quickly fit in with the people there, some spoke her language, but she was being required to learn English so she could speak with almost everyone there._

 _People came from all across the world to train at this temple, and she was one of the few that were allowed outside of the country because she was technically the daughter of two military officials, so she still felt out of place in terms of ethnicity, but people tried their best to make her feel at home._

 _She was being trained physically, mentally and spiritually by the monks there, and was given special training by the Grandmaster after being paid heavily by Esdeath. She and Budo both insisted she stay in the most luxurious spaces, but Skyrah refused to be treated any more different than everyone else there, impressing both the monks and her superiors._

 _The temple was almost always crowded by students from high-class families, and hardly ever saw children like Skyrah enter, giving the others a reason to question who she was and why she was here, something she rarely spoke about to anyone there._

 _One late night a very young girl arrived at the entrance of the temple without the slightest idea of where she was, she had been abandoned by her parents and been wandering all by herself until she arrived there. The monks took her in and grew very suspicious of her origins, the young girl hardly showed any emotion and was found out to be extremely strong, despite her fragile frame and age._

 _They contemplated on giving her to an adoption home, but Skyrah whilst training under the Grandmaster, met the young girl and introduced herself, making the young girl finally open up to someone._

 _Her name was Mia Valion, a Teigu had been surgically implanted in place of her heart, making her not act like a normal human girl. With the help of Skyrah, whom she had grown a close bond with, finally began to make friends with others and actually began to train her strength under Skyrah._

 _Mia began to call Skyrah her "Sissy" a little while after they met and the two only grew closer from then on._

 _So there they were, months passed since Skyrah had arrived and Mia was clinging to her warm body as they slept in their room._

 _Skyrah watched as the young girl's chest rose and fell as she slept._

" _Sissy…" Mia groaned as she rolled in her sleep, finding her way on top of Skyrah and putting her face in the older girl's chest._

 _Skyrah smiled as the girl fell back to sleep, running her fingers through her silky blonde hair, it was strange, she hadn't seen much blonde hair where she had come from, so it looked even more beautiful to her._

 _The moon passed over their room, lighting it up with beautiful white light._

 _Skyrah's eyes closed from her drowsiness and she slowly drifted to sleep._

 _That next morning was filled with Skyrah meditating with the Grandmaster near the ocean, and was the first time Mia had gotten curious and joined them._

" _Sissy, I don't get how you can do this." Mia whined._

" _It helps if you're quiet." Skyrah said, feeling the breeze of the ocean wind._

" _Clear your mind, Mia, find peace of mind, and focus on it." The Grandmaster said calmly, taking a deep breath._

 _Mia tried her hardest to focus, but after a few minutes opened her eyes on looked to the people on her right, Skyrah was in the middle and the Grandmaster was on the very right. She made as little noise as possible and soon made her way directly in front of Skyrah, who still had her eyes closed and was deep in meditation._

 _With one swift movement, Mia jabbed at Skyrah's face._

 _Her eyes widened when Skyrah's arm shot up and she held up her index and middle finger to hold back the light punch. When she opened her eyes, Skyrah smiled happily._

" _I couldn't feel the wind on my face anymore, then when I felt it rushing at me, I knew it was probably you." She giggled._

 _Mia smiled, her Sissy never failed to impress her, she was the strongest!_

" _Very good, Skyrah." Grandmaster said, still remaining in his meditating position._

" _Good job, Sissy!" Mia chirped, holding a thumbs up._

" _Thanks, sis." Skyrah said, leaning forward and hugging Mia._

Skyrah knew Mia had done horrible things, even to the people she loved, but she knew this wasn't the same girl she had met in England, and she was going to do everything she could to get that girl back.

"Because you're still my sister." Skyrah said, pulling her ankle away and leaning down, giving a quick jab to the downed girl and knocking her out. She watched as Mia's body slowly returned to normal, then looked up at a shocked and frightened Cosmina. "But you… I have no sympathy for you."

Cosmina jumped back in fear. "Y-you think I'll just let you kill me?!" She asked as Skyrah slowly walked over to her.

Akame grabbed Cosmina from behind, holding her in place as Skyrah made her way over.

"I'm going to kill you regardless." Skyrah said, feeling something rise up behind her.

"Too slow, bitch!" Champ shouted, swinging a piece of debris at Skyrah's head.

Skyrah put up her arm and the smoldering piece of wood burst into splinters as it connected with her unmoving limb. She dropped down and spun on the ground, tripping Champ before jumping back up and stomping her foot down onto his face, feeling his skull crushed under her foot. He made no noise and the rest of his body fell limp.

"You did this to her." Skyrah said, pulling her foot out of the mess that had once been Champ's face. "I can't forgive this."

Akame felt a little frightened herself, this was the pure fury that Skyrah kept inside, all of her hatred for these people was now out for the world to see. It was scary to see her like this, but Skyrah wasn't seeing the situation like she was.

Skyrah walked right up to Cosmina and looked her in the eyes.

"You are a monster, you don't deserve forgiveness." She said, staring into Cosmina's terrified eyes.

Akame had let go of Cosmina, but she was still frozen in fear.

"Eliminate." Akame said softly, slashing down Cosmina's back with expert precision.

Skyrah watched as Murasame's black poison slowly crept across Cosmina's body and lightly pushed against her chest, making her fall back and stare up at the sky as the life in her eyes disappeared.

"No… this… it can't…" Cosmina choked, blood poured down the side of her mouth. "It can't end… like this…"

Skyrah turned and walked away as Cosmina succumbed to the poison of Murasame, returning to Mia's knocked out body and picking her up bridal style, returning to Akame at once.

"Do you think Cosmina's influence will stay with her?" Skyrah asked, looking at Akame with tears in her eyes. "I can't leave her like this…"

Akame knew how much Mia meant to Skyrah, she had heard stories of their past together, but this wasn't a question she could answer. She leaned in to Skyrah and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly as her girlfriend quietly sobbed into her shoulder.

"We can hope for the best, we'll do whatever we can." Akame consoled, kissing Skyrah on the cheek.


	16. Chapter 16: Kill The Assassins

**Chapter 16**

 **Kill The Assassins**

It was around noon when three people, one hidden by a black cloak and on either side, Kurome and Fox, casually strolled into the capital city and began to wreak havoc among the civilians. The hooded figure stood right in the middle of the town square, unmoving as Kurome and Fox absolutely slaughtered anyone who as much as looked at them funny. By one in the afternoon over fifty people had been killed. Children, women, elders, it didn't matter who, they were killed all the same.

Night Raid was notified at two in the afternoon, by then the death toll had doubled, and was still rising. Blood ran through the streets and was only added on to by the waves of guards that couldn't lay a finger on either of the two assailants.

By three in the afternoon almost two hundred civilians and guards had been killed, Kurome and Fox had started to spread throughout the city, breaking down doors and raiding businesses, including schools and orphanages. So many people had been caught in their grip and were unable to escape from the superhuman fighters. Night Raid's Akame, Tatsumi, Mine and Skyrah had arrived to intercept the attack and defend the city.

Najenda had been worried, Esdeath had never sent out such a brash attack like this before and was very cautious to send Night Raid near this attack, but they seemed like the only ones that could stop it. Plus the hooded figure would need to be known in order for them to get a leg up on Esdeath and the Jaegers.

"Skyrah, you ready?" Tatsumi questioned, tapping on Skyrah's shoulder while they were waiting in position on a rooftop. "I see the red-haired woman." He said, pointing down to a happy looking, blood covered woman calmly strolling through the empty streets.

"Who is she?" Skyrah asked in a whisper. "I've never seen her before, especially with Kurome." She explained.

The woman disappeared under a building's overhang and never came out of the other side, there was no other place for her to go than out there.

Within the blink of an eye, a face shot up in front of the window and shattered it, making both Tatsumi and Skyrah roll backwards, watching as the hardly clothed woman elegantly dove through the window, rolling silently and standing up in front of them.

"Hello, kids." She grinned, giving her an even scarier appearance.

Skyrah and Tatsumi both noticed her animalistic features, she had large furry ears and a bushy tail that resembled that of a fox's. The pearly white canine teeth and fox eyes added even more to their uneasiness.

"Who the hell are you?" Skyrah shouted. "What are you doing here with Kurome?" Her heart pounded faster and faster as the woman refused to answer, something which the fox lady seemed to take note of.

"Scared?" She asked with a giggle. "My name is Fox... Why don't we take a walk, Skyrah."

Fox lunged directly at Skyrah, Tatsumi slashed his spear to defend, but Fox weaved her body under the weapon and reached out quickly, grabbing Skyrah by the face and slamming her through a window behind her.

There was a brief moment of silence as Skyrah cascaded out of the side of a building with the woman on top of her, smiling wildly the whole way down. The next moment she crashed into the ground, rolling with Fox still on top of her.

Just as they stopped, both Skyrah and Fox sprung off of each other, giving a distance between them.

Tatsumi also jumped down to the battlefield, standing next to Skyrah with his spear ready to attack.

There was no doubt, this was the person Rhys had told her about. But why was she working with Kurome?

"Sorry, she's fast." Tatsumi said, keeping his eyes trained on the woman.

"It's fine, let's just take her down." Skyrah readied herself for a fight, but Fox only gave a smirk and dashed off, making the two Night Raid members chase after her.

Fox weaved through the small alleyways like she had been there hundreds of times, Skyrah and Tatsumi couldn't close any distance between her, and smashed through the objects in their way, the vacant homes and shops had whole walls taken out if the two thought it would gain them ground.

"Come on, you don't want to miss the main event!" Fox mocked as she darted through the streets.

Eventually, the two Night Raid members found themselves in the center of town, where Kurome had led Mine and Akame to the four hooded figures they had brought with them.

"What is this, Kurome?!" Akame's anger had swallowed her other emotions. Skyrah noticed the long gash on Akame's left leg, gushing blood. "Stop running and fight!"

"Please, Akame, this isn't about you and Kurome any longer." The hooded figure said.

The figure unmasked herself, revealing the childish figure of Dorothea from the Wild Hunt.

"Surprise!" Kurome almost fell over giggling. "But that's not all we've got."

"Say, Akame, did Kurome ever tell you about the drugs she's taken?" Dorothea's maniacal grin widened with her overwhelming pleasure. "This will be one helluva reunion!" The young alchemist revealed a bag with six syringes in it.

The members of Night Raid waited, watching the three bunch together.

Without hesitation, Dorothea jabbed one syringe each into Kurome, Fox and herself. The clear liquid was plunged into each of them.

Kurome's calm facial expression quickly changed to that of pure anger, she faced Skyrah, then Akame.

"I'm going to kill you, Sis!" Kurome yelled as a dark, smoke-like aura surrounded her body. "You and your girlfriend!"

"Let's see how long four of you can last." The young alchemist laughed, sitting back.

"I'll give them five minutes." Fox estimated, giving a hungry look at Mine.

Akame and Mine looked across the battlefield to their comrades, giving a nod.

Skyrah split off to the side as Tatsumi rushed in,

Before they could even start their next part of the attack, Kurome blitzed Skyrah, using her shoulder and carrying Skyrah into the side of a building. Fox met Tatsumi's frontal attack by punching his fist with her own, ripping up the ground beneath them with the powerful clash of attacks.

Fox had completely stopped Tatsumi in his tracks and quickly followed up with a flip over him, kicking him in the back of his knees and grabbing his armored head as he fell backwards, sending a flying knee to the back of his head.

Skyrah watched as Tatsumi collapsed. Incursio's armor disappeared off of his now unconscious body.

Kurome felt a kick from the front and grabbed Skyrah's leg, spinning around and throwing the girl back into the ground. Whatever Dorothea had given them had increased their strength by a tenfold, Kurome was already stronger than Skyrah after Esdeath's training, but now she was on a completely different level, she still hasn't even drawn her sword.

Then there was that Fox woman, Skyrah had never even seen her before, let alone fought her.

Akame and Mine both rushed to aid their significant others and began to fight the enemies.

"Mine, get Tatsumi to safety!" Skyrah shouted, running over and locking arms with Fox.

"Wha-"

"Just go!" She demanded, knowing what was at stake here.

She could very well die to these two, but she had to trust herself and Akame that they could handle this. Fox tried to break away but Skyrah put her in a strong bear hug, watching as Mine hauled Tatsumi away as fast as she could.

They would be at a clear disadvantage without Skyrah using limit break, but she held off, trying to gauge just how much she would need to use. Plus, her base form could get stronger from fighting such a strong opponent.

Skyrah soon let go of Fox and readied herself.

"Sacrificing yourself for your friends? How valiant of you." Fox mocked.

"We're going to beat you two, I wouldn't be so quick to judge." Skyrah challenged, standing her ground.

"You're hardly at half of my strength, and I'm not even warmed up!" Fox laughed, making Skyrah grin back.

"You want to test that theory?" Skyrah got into her fighting stance, feeling her Teigu heat up. Even it knew she was at a disadvantage, but she could handle a challenge.

Fox jabbed her hand forward, the claws on her fingers just barely missing Skyrah's face. The assassin rose her right leg as she leaned to the left, slamming her foot directly into the side of Fox's head. The animal woman didn't even flinch and quickly gave a straight jab as her rebuttal, connecting with the center of Skyrah's chest.

The younger girl slid back from the powerful punch. Her adrenaline dulled the pain, but she still felt the stinging of a newly broken rib.

Without waiting for more pain to come, Skyrah reached out and grabbed Fox's arm as she swung again, twisting it to flip her over, stomping onto the woman and kicking her away. She followed as Fox skipped across the ground, clenching both of her fists together and slamming them down into the sliding woman, crushing the ground underneath her body.

Her strength had increased so much from Esdeath's training, her base form felt like it had doubled in strength since she arrived.

Fox slowly rose from the rubble, looking over to Kurome and Akame clashing swords as she brushed the dust and rocks from her hair and tail.

"You're stronger than I thought, but it won't do you much good." She said with a bored expression.

She rushed in and grabbed Skyrah by the hair, pulling her into the air and slamming her back into the ground again and again until she threw her up into the air, connecting a punch into her stomach. Wide emerald eyes stared into Fox's as Skyrah was blown away from the force of the punch. No time was wasted, though, Fox quickly followed up by jumping above Skyrah while still in mid-air and mimicking her double fist punch, getting an amplified destructive result on the ground.

Fox looked down at Skyrah's buried and unmoving body on the ground with a bored look.

"Is that all?" She looked up at a nearby clock tower and saw it had been seven minutes since they had began. "I was expecting a better fight."

Skyrah smiled, feeling blood run down the front of her face and over her closed eye.

"Fine, I'll give you a better fight." She mumbled. "Loputon Voima: 200 percent!"

This level still wasn't nearly enough to handle her, but Skyrah wanted to see how much she was holding back.

Skyrah jumped up and grabbed out for Fox, but the animal woman caught her by the throat and made her look over to Akame and Kurome's fight.

Kurome was holding up a badly wounded Akame by her hair, her sword was plunged deep into Akame's stomach, enough to where half of the blade's length had pierced through her whole body.

"Sure you want to keep holding back?" Fox questioned, looking Skyrah dead in the eye.

A fire raged in Skyrah's heart, her muscles tightened and her brain locked onto one sole objective. To save Akame.

"400 percent!" Skyrah screamed out, throwing Fox's body away and making the ground blow apart under her.

Skyrah's new strength made her blast from her position to Kurome like a bullet, she threw a wild punch at an unsuspecting Kurome and blew her away from the incredibly powerful attack. The sword was also taken with her, removing it from Akame's body.

Kurome had been hit so hard it sent her through two buildings before she came grinding to a halt, staring up at the sky in silent agony. She couldn't even tell what part of Skyrah had hit her, she just knew it hurt.

Fox rushed Skyrah and received an equally powerful kick to the chest, making her skip across the ground like a smooth rock on water.

Dorothea watched in amazement and rushed to her two comrades as Skyrah aided a downed Akame.

Skyrah picked up her barely conscious girlfriend and took her to a nearby roof.

"We're getting out of here." Skyrah was ready to leave, both of her enemies were down and she was clear to escape.

"No, put me down." Akame mumbled.

"What?!" Skyrah questioned, feeling her body cracking under the pressure of her new power

"We won't get another chance like this, go finish it." Akame said, holding her stomach in pain. "Hurry up, I'll be fine for a minute."

Skyrah said nothing, but looked over her girlfriend's body and felt anger rise in her heart, her blood was boiling. She knew how to end this fight, she would only do it for Akame's sake.

"I'll be right back."

Skyrah jumped off the roof and back to the battlefield.

She was amazed to see both of them back on their feet, each with a new empty syringe at their feet.

Dorothea stepped forward. "Give up now, even with power like that you can't take on both of them and me." She explained. "Let's say if a minute ago they were at 100 percent power, now they're at 200 percent."

Skyrah didn't care, she had to win right then, or Akame would die.

"100 percent." She said, feeling the her body be relieved from the tension.

"Just how cocky are you, kid?" Fox questioned.

"Fury Release!" Skyrah shouted, feeling her blood speed through her veins as her anger overtook her mind. Her hair blackened as well as the metal on her body. Her eye and tattoo appeared again as well, finishing her transformation.

Skyrah released a deafening roar that shook the entire city, pressure blasted towards the three with such intensity it blew them off their feet. Dorothea felt her bones shake from the ridiculous power, her ribs broke one by one. Her power was nowhere near the others, and she now began to feel the consequences.

It was like standing in a wind tunnel, they couldn't even hear themselves scream, their ears began to leak blood and bones broke from the intense pressure. Such power hadn't been seen since Akame's fight with Esdeath.

Even Akame, who was behind the blast of pure power could feel the rumbling in the city, buildings were collapsing and the nicely built roads were torn apart until they had been reduced to dust. If Akame or Esdeath a year ago had challenged Skyrah, neither of them would have won. Obviously they had improved since then, but Skyrah's strength and potential was no joke.

Dorothea's skull was crushed from the pressure, her scream was cut off as her brain was squashed like a bug.

Kurome pushed herself off the wall they had been pinned against and threw herself at Skyrah, quickly being followed by Fox as well.

Skyrah stopped her shout and vanished as Kurome neared her, appearing behind her and attacking multiple times before Kurome's body even reacted to the punches.

Fox slashed with her claws but Skyrah met her attack with her own punch, breaking the animal woman's hand and arm in the process.

Within a second, Skyrah was back to repeatedly hitting Kurome as she fell towards the ground, then vanished through the air and kicked Fox down towards the ground, making both of her enemies impact at the same time.

Skyrah had fully embraced her anger and it pushed her to limits Akame, Kurome and Fox had never witnessed before. None of them could even keep up with her ridiculously fast movement speed.

Just as Kurome landed, Skyrah's knee smashed down into her ribs, crushing them under the metal limb.

Kurome screamed, but her mouth was covered by a metal hand.

Skyrah had Kurome's sword in her hand now, without hesitating for a moment, she shoved the blade into girl's already injured chest.

Kurome's eyes widened as her own sword stabbed her. It passed through her body with ease, despite the scattered fragments of her now broken ribs in her chest.

When the blade entered the ground, Skyrah let go and spun around, smashing her fist into a slowly rising Fox's head, dropping her right back to the ground.

Both downed fighters didn't as much as move as Skyrah looked down on them before vanishing without a trace, appearing out of their line of sight on the roof where she had left Akame, quickly picking her up and tearing out of the city back to Night Raid's hideout.

"Skyrah..." Akame said. "That was... Amazing."

Skyrah's ears were ringing and her body still was still being fueled by pure adrenaline, so she didn't even hear Akame, who had stopped bleeding thankfully.

"I love you." Skyrah said loudly as they raced through the forest, knowing Akame had said something. "I love you." She repeated.

Akame leaned up and kissed Skyrah, making both of them smile.

Skyrah's black hair slowly faded back to white and her body returned to normal as they arrived at Night Raid's base.

Fox looked up at the clock tower. It had been an eleven minute fight. They had somehow lost, even though they had used Dorothea's magical drug not once, but twice. Her arm and hand gushed blood from the twisted and broken bone and her body failed to respond.

Kurome had caught her sister off guard before she could use her Trump Card and had almost killed her, now somehow she was on death's door. Her body refused to move and her comrade seemed to be in the same predicament. Dorothea was absolutely dead, even using her drug twice, she could have hardly held up against a base form of Skyrah or Akame.

Both of them thought the same thing though, Skyrah was incredibly strong. They weren't enough to cut it how they were, they would have to use more of Dorothea's enhancements to stand against her.

Kurome felt the sword ripped out of her chest and her eyes slowly focused on Esdeath standing above her.

"Pathetic." She said in disappointment. "I needed fifteen minutes and you couldn't even hold them here for that long." Esdeath snapped her fingers and her guards helped Fox and Kurome up.

Esdeath frowned as she looked off in the distance. Soon enough she would get Skyrah back, she was the only person she cared about anymore. She would kill Akame and steal Skyrah, annihilating all of Night Raid if she had to.


	17. Chapter 17: Kill The Family

**Chapter 17**

 **Kill The Family**

Skyrah sat on top of Night Raid's base, looking off into horizon at the slowly setting sun. It had been only a day since their fight in the Capital, Akame had began to recover quickly after getting home, but would forever wear a nasty scar on her stomach from Kurome's blade. Skyrah was happy that she could defend her girlfriend, but also annoyed that she had to go to such lengths to do it.

At 100 percent power, she stood no chance against Kurome or Fox now. The drug they had used was popular in the West part of the world, and while they wouldn't keep the strength they had the day before, they would still retain some of it.

The metal limbed girl smashed her fist into the roof beside her, cracking the shingles. Her frustration was not only seen by the others, but felt. She had been training so hard to make her base form as strong as she possibly could, and now she had an even further gap in between them. She had to go as far as using Fury Release to defeat the two of them just to save her and Akame's skin, using it was something she didn't want to do, and only use as a last resort.

Her feelings for Akame let her use it without harming her own body, the reason her hair had stayed white because she had used it on her own accord, at least that's what she guessed. It also didn't help that she didn't exactly understand how her own Teigu worked. As far as she could see, after using Fury Release against Esdeath and almost killing herself from the strain, her hair had turned white and stayed that way. Plus there was the version of Fury Release that instead made her arms and legs gold and her hair white instead of black.

The confusion only frustrated her further, she had so many questions and nobody to answer them.

She knew she had gotten stronger though, she was able to use 400 percent power without hurting herself from the strain. Her body still needed to adapt to that much power though, the adrenaline she felt at that moment would have dulled the pain, and explained why she was so sore now.

Skyrah stood up just as the sun began to fall under the trees. With a nod, she made up her mind. She jumped down and safely got to the ground, standing about twenty yards from the base.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them slowly as she exhaled.

"200 percent." A pulse of power ripped up blades of grass and sent wind through the trees, making them lean for a moment then stand back upright.

Skyrah felt no strain at this level, but that wasn't what she was going for this time.

"250 percent." The grass under her feet was torn out and a small circle of dirt was now there.

This level was her maximum while fighting Akame for the first time, and half of Loputon Voima's maximum potential. Back then she could hardly hold the form and was taken down by Murasame's Trump Card with only two punches. Now it hardly felt different from 100 percent.

"350 percent." The ground cracked and collapsed under her feet as another wave of wind and power blasted outwards from her in all directions.

She now was beginning to feel strain on her, but she had to go further.

Skyrah grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "400 percent." She bent her knees as a new weight fell onto her body, destroying the ground around her in a wide circle.

This was difficult to hold, her body felt as strong as ever, but she couldn't hold it for long. She took a few practice punches and kicks and was surprised at their strength, she continued shadowboxing for a few minutes and finally stopped, looking around.

"Skyrah, what are you doing out here?" Akame called, wobbling out of the base and watching her from a chair she sat down in.

"I have to get used to this power, I can't always rely on my Trump Card." Skyrah said, focused on what she was doing.

Akame noticed the trees a few meters away from Skyrah were bending to the side from the pressure her power was creating.

"You should be resting, not training." Akame said under her breath, holding her bandaged stomach gently.

Leone and Najenda soon joined Akame, sitting in the chairs next to her and watching Skyrah train.

"I don't think anyone is going to be able to make her stop unless we knock her out." Najenda said, chewing on a toothpick in her mouth. "She's frustrated with herself, she wants to be stronger."

"Strong _est_." Leone corrected. "What is she training at?"

"400 percent." Akame answered, putting her head in one hand. "It's dangerous, but she's doing it."

"I've met a lot of fighters in my life, but none ever pushed themselves like she does, she's always trying to improve." Najenda leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Like Tatsumi when he first got here, he pushed himself so hard when training with Bulat." She remembered.

Skyrah had finally began to slow down from the immense strain on her body and dropped down to her knees, letting sweat pour off of her and onto the ground underneath.

"100 percent." All at once, everything her power was creating disappeared and she slowly got to her feet. She looked over to the other three members and tried her best to walk over, almost tripping over herself a few times.

Najenda and Leone both noticed the way she was holding under her breasts and the obvious pain she was feeling from there. She hadn't reported any injuries and wanted only to get Akame, Tatsumi, and Mine treated for their injuries.

Leone narrowed her eyes as Skyrah took her shirt off, she had bruises all over the skin above her ribcage and tried her best to hide them as sat down in front of the others with a weak smile.

"How many?" Leone asked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Skyrah questioned innocently.

"How many ribs are broken? I'm sure you can tell." She asked again.

Skyrah laughed. "Is it that easy to notice?" She asked weakly. "Three or four, maybe."

Najenda stood up, Leone and Akame quickly followed suit.

"Come on." Najenda said. "We need to get it wrapped and get you to bed."

After about an hour of complaining and whining from the injured girl, Najenda and Leone put Skyrah to bed.

Akame entered after Skyrah had fallen asleep and slipped into bed with her, snuggling up against her and holding her close, burying her face in Skyrah's soft white hair.

"Akame?" Skyrah asked in a groggy tone, turning over and meeting faces with her beautiful girlfriend.

The two stayed silent for a few minutes, just staring into each other's eyes.

"How do you feel about Kurome?" Skyrah asked suddenly.

Akame was taken a bit off guard by the sudden question but answered either way.

"She's my sister." She said. "I love her, but she wants me dead."

Skyrah had only asked Akame about the story once, and it was painful for her to explain, so she didn't dare ask again.

"I could have killed her yesterday, but I couldn't bring myself to do it." Skyrah said. "I want you two to be together again, like Mia and I." She explained.

Akame closed her eyes and smiled. "I appreciate that, but we can't rekindle like you two." She said. "One of us will die so the other can live and fight on."

Skyrah's eyes were saddened.

Soon, both of them fell into a deep slumber.

A figure stood over the two sleeping lovers, whose faces were close as they slept soundly into the night. The bright, silky blue hair of the figure glistened in the moonlight coming in from an opened window, the curtains were swept aside by the steady wind pouring in from outside.

The once warm room had become a shivering cold, though not felt by the lovers in the bed whose body heat kept each other warm under their thick covers.

Esdeath made no movements, and only stared longingly at what the two shared together.

Love.

What she wanted, what she, if only for a short period of time when she was with a much younger Skyrah, had. When the girl first arrived home in the Capital, she was astounded by the wonders of the wealthy, and wanted nothing more than to give back to the people who gave her such amazing things. She was happy back then, even wore the exact same smile as she did now.

Budo and Esdeath both trained her, but Esdeath rarely was able to take her out like Budo could because of her job.

Now instead of her laying in a bed with her step-daughter, sleeping soundly through the night, it was Akame, one of her sworn enemies. She was one of the few adversaries that could actually win in a fight against her.

Esdeath closed her eyes and thought for a moment of a world where the three of them could get along, and be a family. Esdeath by both of their sides, walking Skyrah down the aisle to Akame and them all living happily ever after.

She didn't need love as long as Skyrah could be happy. If she was happy with Akame, then Esdeath could maybe even grow to like the black-haired assassin.

Esdeath opened her eyes and smiled down on the sleeping pair. Her heart throbbed in pain as reality shook her to the core, that it was more than likely that none of those things would ever happen to her.

Skyrah had become so strong with Night Raid by her side, maybe it was better if she stayed with them rather than be with her. Her strength, from what Kurome and Fox had told her, could even exceed her and Akame during their fight almost 2 years ago in the Capital.

If Skyrah chose to stay with Night Raid, she would die with them too. If her and Akame would come to her side, they would live.

Esdeath expertly crafted a heart shape out of ice and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed of Akame and Skyrah then silently exited the room through the door. She walked down the halls of Night Raid's base of operations. She had come for one person, and one person only.

Soon she reached a lower level of Night Raid's base where only one bedroom was, the door was cracked and light poured through as she peeked in.

Mia silently looked at herself in the mirror, she was dressed in only her undergarments and ran her finger over the scars on her body.

Esdeath opened the door and walked up behind the girl, who watched her with sad eyes.

"Did I do alright?" Mia asked as Esdeath stopped right behind her.

Esdeath reached under Mia's hair and pulled out a bloodied tracking device from her scalp.

"You did great." Esdeath slammed her elbow into the back of Mia's neck, making a sickening _crack!_ echo in her ears.

As the life left Mia's now crying eyes, she seemed to fall in slow motion, her mind racing as thoughts of her short life passed through her mind in a flash, the training she had done to impress Skyrah, the awful things she had done to hurt her, her Teigu being placed in her chest, her time at the academy with Skyrah and the few friends she had made. Above all, she just remembered the smiling face of Skyrah as she rode off on the boat she took back home.

" _Sissy… I truly am sorry."_ Her mind thought. _"I wasn't strong… like you would have been."_

Her forehead impacted her desk and rattled around the various things on it and didn't move an inch afterwards.

Esdeath stared down at the fallen girl with a frown before picking her up and walking loudly back through the Night Raid base, kicking her way out of the front door and listening intently as the sleeping members within woke up and hurried from their rooms.

Without waiting any longer, Esdeath put Mia by her two other victims and disappeared into the night, not turning back to watch her grand scheme.

A scream echoed through the night as Esdeath ran away smiling.

All members of Night Raid gathered outside to see three bodies in a line on their front lawn. One was quickly identified as Mia, who was without a doubt, dead.

The other two hadn't even ever been seen by the members, they just looked like common people.

"N-no…" Skyrah fell to her knees over the man and the woman who had been impaled by one ice sword each.

"H-hey, sugar…" The man coughed out. He was somehow still alive, as was the woman.

"Daddy?" Skyrah asked, leaning over him and grabbing his stretched arm.

"I won't ever forget those eyes, they don't belong to anyone else." He said.

The other members noticed both the man and the woman had Skyrah's emerald eyes, but theirs had dulled with age.

"Sweetie, we love you." The woman said, coughing up blood from the long sword in her chest. "I'm sorry for what we did."

Akame leaned down to Skyrah, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"I have to tell you something… before I go." Her father said. "Your brother, he's been looking for you, he's a General in the military that defends the Capital." He said.

"Farris…" Skyrah said slowly, remembering the face of her older brother.

"Go find him, before Esdeath does." Her mother said, closing her eyes.

"I will, but we have to help you guys first." Skyrah tried to pull her father and mother up, but they let go of her hand. "What are you doing?"

"These swords are the only thing keeping us in one piece."

The happy look Skyrah had on her face vanished into sadness. Her eyes were suddenly full with tears that quickly dripped over, running down her face.

"We're proud of you, please don't hate us." Her mother said slowly, coughing up more blood.

"I'll never hate you two." Skyrah cried out. "You're still my parents, I can't hate you."

"That's all we ever wanted to hear." Her father said, pulling the three of them into the final hug they would ever share.

"We love you." The two parents said in unison before falling limp in Skyrah's arms.

Skyrah was sobbing as she held her two fallen parents close in her arms.

Akame squeezed Skyrah shoulder and lifted her up, holding her in a hug as she screamed out in sadness and pain.

A storm overhead began to pour down rain onto the people below, kids, parents, lovers, all of them were together for that moment. They all shared tears and cries over those they lost. The three bodies of those important to Skyrah were taken away and buried by the others as Skyrah's shaking and crying body was taken inside and held by Akame, who cried silently along with her.

Nothing had ever shaken Skyrah quite like this before, she had cried, screamed, and fought to live before, but nothing had impacted her quite like the loss of her family, and someone she considered family.

Skyrah eventually fell into a silent sob and her mind was finally made up.

Esdeath would die by her hand.


	18. Chapter 18: The Day The Giant Fell

**Chapter 18**

 **The Day the Giant Fell**

Morning came quickly after that, Skyrah couldn't figure out just how this had happened so fast, it was only a few months ago that she arrived. Since then, she had been beaten, she had killed, fought, emerged victorious, lost, both fights and people, now this. Her true, blood-related family, the only one she would ever have, was almost all gone. Only her and her brother remained to carry on their name.

Then there was Mia. She had such high hopes that she could help rid her of her recent past and make her a valuable ally, but she too was now gone.

Skyrah knew there was no time to wait to go to the Capital, she had to find Farris without the help of Akame. Rhys and Leone also stayed behind to care for Akame while Najenda simply couldn't leave the base with Esdeath knowing its location. While Mine wanted to go, she left it up to Tatsumi to go alongside their friend. They rested for another two hours, awaiting dawn and left just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

"If you pull anything, I will literally blow you apart." Mine said, prodding Skyrah with her last three words.

With a few final goodbyes, Tatsumi and Skyrah were off to the Capital to find her brother. Without wasting any time, they activated their Teigu's and ran through the forest as fast as they possibly could towards their destination. Neither spoke a word for the first half hour, Tatsumi could see the effects of Skyrah's last fight affecting her ability to run, she had one arm on her chest, holding her ribs in pain.

"Do you need to go back? If you describe him I'm sure I can get him for you." Tatsumi asked with sympathy.

"I'm fine, just a little bruised." Skyrah said with a determined grin. "Come on, let's pick up the pace."

The two comrades sped up, Skyrah knocked trees completely out of her way if she needed to, eventually the morning sunlight was hidden by a great shadow that cast over the forest. At first, the two thought they had gone under an overhang in the trees, but soon they decided to look up at the incredible figure in the distance.

A mammoth, black colored figure stood so tall it blocked out the sun they were heading towards.

"What is that?" Skyrah questioned, still running towards it.

"I don't know, but it's huge." Tatsumi swallowed hard, despite not being able to see it, he could feel a thick tension in the air, and it's facade seemed oddly familiar.

As they neared it, they reached a giant clearing where the trees that had once been there had been absolutely crushed underneath, they both finally got a good look at it.

"It's…"

"I destroyed it, there's just no way…" Tatsumi was in terror and shock.

"Shikoutazer!" Skyrah finished her sentence, she had only been told stories over Tatsumi's feat of destroying the great suit of armor during their battle with Esdeath and the Jaegers when they raided the Capital.

She thought they had been exaggerating when telling about it's size, but now it was quite clear that they weren't, and could even be bigger than she imagined.

"It's been repaired, that's for sure." Tatsumi said, looking up at it's newly painted body and completely repaired external injuries. He saw someone under it's legs, standing between it's two giant feet. "Come on."

Tatsumi rushed over to the man, seeing him standing with his arms crossed and a pair of sharp looking sunglasses on.

"Yo." He said with a small wave and smile.

The man had short black hair and pale skin, his eyes were hidden under his sunglasses, but Tatsumi knew they were trained on him. His large grey military jacket was held by his shoulders, but his arms were not in the sleeves, and returned to a crossed position after greeting Tatsumi. Black, pristine looking boots and dark green cargo pants only further showed he was obviously military.

"Who are you, what are you doing out here?" Tatsumi questioned, looking up at the looming figure above him.

The man grinned again as Skyrah approached, stopping beside Tatsumi.

"Yuki, you've certainly grown." He said, ignoring Tatsumi and changing his point of view to Skyrah.

Skyrah's eyes widened and the man's grin grew larger.

"Can't you come give your brother a hug?" He said with a hearty chuckle, spreading his arms.

Skyrah practically dove into what Tatsumi guessed was her brother's arms. She squealed like a little baby and kicked her legs as she was picked up off the ground by the much taller man. His glasses fell off of his head and revealed two bright emerald eyes, matching Skyrah's.

"I didn't think I'd see you again!" She laughed, suddenly pudging up her face in frustration. "And don't call me by my first name, you know I don't like it."

He laughed loudly and put her down. "Yeah, yeah, I still like it though."

"Anyone want to fill me in?" Tatsumi deadpanned, getting out of Incursio's armor, not feeling in any danger.

"Tatsumi, this is my brother Farris, Farris this is one of my friends, Tatsumi." Skyrah introduced the two and pushed them close together. When Farris offered a handshake, Tatsumi took his hand and they shook firmly.

At the end of the handshake, a strange look came over Farris' face and he squeezed Tatsumi's hand tightly before letting go, turning back to Skyrah with a normal smile again.

"So what, are you two dating?" Farris questioned.

Skyrah's face turned beet red and she turned away from the two boys.

"No! He has a girlfriend!" Skyrah defended herself as Tatsumi studied over Farris again, who was giving him another dirty look.

"Was he the one who helped you take out mom and dad?" Farris questioned, not losing the dirty look on his face. "Or was it another Night Raid member?"

Skyrah slowly turned back to Farris. "What?" She asked.

"Esdeath told me what you did to them." He said darkly. "I saw you finish them off last night, I was with her in the woods."

Skyrah took a step back, Esdeath had already gotten to her brother too. But she could talk to him.

"Do you think it was only mom and dad that didn't want a kid without limbs?" He asked, putting his sunglasses back on and throwing off his coat, revealing his extremely fit and large body. "I didn't want a sister like that."

Tatsumi engaged Incursio again.

"That's not true!" Skyrah shouted, tears appearing in her eyes. "They loved me, they told me last night!"

"As you killed them!" Farris took a swing at Skyrah, who was defended from the punch by Tatsumi, who not only deflected it, but struck him across the jaw.

Farris backed off for a moment, but looked back at Skyrah with hatred in his eyes. "Now I'm going to avenge them, and kill you!"

A giant block of metal fell from Shikoutazer and opened up, shooting out a liquid metal that wrapped around the large man's body and drew him back into the enormous machine.

Tatsumi was astounded, Skyrah's family was of no royal bloodline, so how was Farris even able to use Shikoutazer?

"How?!" Tatsumi shouted. "You're no King, how are you able to use it?!"

The giant body rose up with a loud roar and let out a metallic laugh, shaking the ground beneath the two members of Night Raid.

"Shikoutazer was modified, now only I can use this omnipotent Tegiu!" He roared, lifting up his arm.

Skyrah and Tatsumi dodged as the arm crashed into the earth with such force it uprooted trees within a mile, throwing dust and shrapnel around.

"Skyrah! Use everything you can to defeat him!" Tatsumi shouted, shielding his body from the rock being thrown around. "We cannot let him destroy any more, we're too close to the city!"

Skyrah smashed her fists together.

"Loputon Voima: 300 percent!" She shouted, all of the dust was blown away, showing the battlefield once more.

Without wasting any time, Skyrah leaped into the air, smashing her fist into the joint of Shikoutazer's leg, hoping to do something to the mammoth of a machine. Just as she realized she hadn't done a thing to the leg, she was batted away from a monstrous arm and thrown into the sky above the forest, speeding towards the ground, but not before ripping through the tops of trees.

When she eventually slammed into the ground, her head was spinning from the ridiculous speed she had been sent flying.

She picked herself up, feeling her body for damage. Thankfully, nothing felt broken just yet.

A giant leg came crashing through the forest she was in, throwing the trees for miles and just barely missing her.

"Come on, sis, I promise your friends will be joining you in hell soon!" Farris screamed, his booming voice be amplified by Shikoutazer.

How did Tatsumi even stand a chance against this monster of a Teigu? It was incredibly massive and resilient, but everything had a weakness, she just had to find it.

She was narrowly saved from a stomp that would have surely killed her by Tatsumi, who rolled across the ground with her.

"You're no fun, kids!" Farris taunted once again. "I didn't expect any kind of challenge, but come on!"

Tatsumi picked the both of them up and held Skyrah close. "It's abdomen is a weak point, that's how I destroyed it last time." He explained. "I'm guessing the user is somewhere in the head, but we can't reach it."

Skyrah nodded, pulling herself away from Tatsumi.

"Infinite Blitz!" Skyrah's body changed, gaining her upgraded armor. "I think I can jump to it's abdomen, but we need to go at the same time."

Skyrah began to run alongside Tatsumi directly at Shikoutazer, springing up just as it swung for them two and crashing fist-first into it's abdomen with Tatsumi only a few feet away.

The two hardly made a dent together before getting blown away from a giant beam of red light that burned through the cloth on their bodies. They once again found themselves grounded, both having made giant ruts in the ground.

"Fuck." Tatsumi deadpanned. "We hardly did a thing."

Skyrah's ear were ringing loudly, but she made out what he said.

"Die!" Farris fired another beam of light directly at the downed fighters.

Tatsumi jumped in front of Skyrah, spinning his spear and deflecting the energy blast for a few moments before taking the full force of it, which ate away at his armor, revealing some of his chest and the right side of his head.

He stood strong, his spear had been completely destroyed and his armor was close to the same, but he spread his arms as if to deflect another.

"What brother would do this to his sister?!" Tatsumi shouted. "I may have been an only child, but I know for damn sure this ain't right!" He looked directly up at Shikoutazer, staring daggers into the suit of armor.

"What if your sister killed everyone you cared about?!" Farris fired again.

Tatsumi took the blast head-on, feeling the intense burn on his revealed skin. The rest of his armor for his torso and head had been destroyed, yet he still stood strong.

"I won't let you kill her!" Tatsumi shouted. "We're more family to her than you ever will be!"

Skyrah felt tears in her eyes as another blast rocked the battlefield, Tatsumi finally fell to his knees, his strength completely giving out. He turned around and met Skyrah's eyes with his own, she saw the fire within him still burning bright, he refused to give up.

"Stop it!" Skyrah jumped in front of Tatsumi as another blast came flying towards them, holding her arms out and deflecting the blast, bending the light around both of them. Her arms shook with the amount of power it was taking to save them. "You won't take them from me, nobody else is going to die!"

"We'll see!" Farris shouted over the loud wave of energy he fired. "Full power!"

The beam intensified greatly, making her feet slide back. She could hardly keep it back.

"I...I can't do it!" She cried, gritting her teeth as it pushed her back further.

Farris laughed maniacally as he saw his sister falter under the power he possessed. Esdeath had warned him how dangerous she was, but this was nothing in comparison to him.

"Skyrah."

Skyrah turned her head, Tatsumi smiled up at her.

Despite his burned skin, broken bones, almost destroyed Teigu and dying body, he still smiled.

She saw Mia, her parents, Night Raid and Budo behind him, all smiling at her.

"Do it."

Skyrah turned back, furrowing her eyebrows, stopping her sliding body and narrowing her eyes.

Farris saw the change in pace too, something had happened.

" **I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE THEM AWAY!** " Skyrah screamed, pushing against the beam with all her strength. " **500 PERCENT!** "

Skyrah's shout carried through the sky to the city and back to Night Raid's base, where her friends watched a towering figure in battle with unknown people. Now they knew though.

"Skyrah!" They shouted at once, raising their arms.

" **AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!** "

Skyrah's body jumped from the ground, carrying the beam back up at the giant Teigu before her. When she reached the place the beam had come from, she used all of her strength pushing back the beam, making it fire in the opposite direction, absolutely obliterating the upper body of Shikoutazer, leaving only a pair of giant legs which slowly collapsed to the ground.

Skyrah felt herself falling, she opened her eyes to see the clouds above her, which had become a circular shape with a hole through it from the beam that had fired upwards. She smiled widely as she passed the falling legs on her way down. A pair of arms wrapped around her just before she hit the ground, softening her fall.

Tatsumi looked surprised, but not from her feat, he was staring down at her body.

"Y- you're body…" He said slowly as they landed on the ground softly.

She looked down at herself, her clothes were almost nonexistent, her skirt and leggings had been almost completely destroyed, her shirt was gone, revealing her sports bra and her gloves had also been destroyed. But that's not what he was seeing.

Skyrah lifted her arm in front of her face, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Skin.

Real, human skin, on her arms and legs, she could feel the wind pass through her fingers and toes, little pieces of dirt rested on her forearm, and she could feel them roll off.

Loputon Voima was no longer on the outside, but she could still feel it within her.

"My arms… my legs…" Skyrah's tears poured out of her eyes, her body had returned to normal. Her arms and legs had been rebuilt by Loputon Voima, and were now for the world to see.

"Let's go." Tatsumi said, standing up and putting her arm over his shoulders.

The two helped each other walk the whole way back to their home, laughing at themselves when they collapsed in the front lawn of the base. The others rushed out to get them, only to find them weakly laughing.

Skyrah cried as Rhys patched her up, not because of the pain, but because of the person she had just killed, the final member of her bloodline, she had no grandparents to speak of, no parents, and no siblings now. She was the final person to carry on her name. Akame held her new, flesh hand as she cried all throughout the day and deep into the night, Skyrah felt more alone then ever, but at the same time closer to her friends than ever.

Tatsumi had been badly burned, but was expected to be okay, his wounds had been covered and patched, Mine stayed with him all day and all night, holding him close to her with no objection from him.

All members of Night Raid stayed in the same room that night, a large meeting room where Skyrah and Tatsumi's hospital beds had been rolled into, and where the others had brought sleeping bags into. They were going to take no chances of losing each other. Leone stayed up all night, listening for any sign of an intruder or attack.

None came.

It was the quietest night Leone had ever stayed up through, no insects, owls, not even wind, made noise outside, it was like the whole world stopped that night for them.

Skyrah had been running an intense fever all throughout the night and into the next day, and was taken care of by all members.

The newspaper came that day, a revolutionary army member had brought it to everyone's attention of how famous Skyrah and Tatsumi were.

It had been titled _The Day the Giant Fell._ It described the two heroic members of a mysterious group of vigilantes that had taken down the ultimate Teigu outside of the Capital City. It said a deranged General of the military stationed to protect the Capital had threatened the council members the day before with an attack, and was stopped by two members of Night Raid, a young woman and man.

The civilians asked for an appearance of the vigilantes within the Capital, calling them out to join them in celebration of protecting the city they had liberated almost two years before.

Najenda told the member of the revolutionary army to tell the people they wouldn't come to their celebration, but would be watching over them instead.


	19. Chapter 19: Rin

**Chapter 19**

 **Rin**

 _Monster. Demon. Freak._

These were the names she had grown to respect as her own.

At a young age, Rin had been exiled from her village and deemed a freak of nature, even by her own parents. Her village had been attacked by an Ultra-Class danger beast and her father, a priest for the town had fought it, eventually defeating it after it had laid waste to the town. The danger beast was a spirit that wandered from town to town, burning everything in sight.

As the spirit was close to death, it attacked Rin and badly burned the left side of her face. When Rin tried to fight back, the fire spirit overtook her body, becoming trapped inside of the young girl, giving her it's abilities and resistance to fire.

Her father became terrified of her. Rin's short, light brown hair turned into a jet black color and her eyes became a blazing orange, resembling the fire spirit that had attacked them.

Rin couldn't learn how to learn or suppress her powers at such a young age. When her emotions got the best of her, she would burn everything around her, further upsetting her and in turn, burning more. This vicious cycle was unbreakable for weeks, and her family grew to resent her, her two younger brothers were terrified of the person that they used to think of as an older sister.

Her mother was the absolute last person to break from the pressure of her new abilities. During one of Rin's more violent outbursts, she was killed by Rin's fire. For a long time after that, Rin was unable to use her abilities, she couldn't allow herself to hurt anyone else.

Rin's father turned to drinking after losing his wife, and abused Rin during his drunken rages. As the days of neglect turned to weeks, Rin grew numb to the pain, and just took it in stride. Some days at school her teacher would pull her out of the room after seeing new bruises on her face, along with glass from broken bottles still stuck under her skin.

The sympathy she was receiving meant nothing to her, her teacher lost her job after confronting Rin's father about the neglect she had undergone. Her father laughed in the face of her teacher and took Rin home, only to give her yet another beating for allowing the teacher to find out.

Some of her ribs and teeth had been broken from that incident, but her father refused to take her to get any medical treatment, and her brothers were too afraid to help her. For two weeks she took care of herself, dragging herself to school every day with broken ribs, ripping out her own broken baby teeth and letting new ones grow in, bandaging her ribs and hoping that they were correctly aligned.

One night, about two years after her mother had died, Rin was picked up from her bed and slammed into the wall by her drunk father. While she mentally prepared herself for another beating, her father broke the bottle in his hands and stabbed it into her stomach, covering her mouth with his fat hands so she couldn't scream.

Rin thrashed and kicked, bit and punch, screamed and cried, trying desperately to get her father off of her. She knew what he was doing was going to kill her.

Her blood burned the glass in her body, shattering the bottle in her father's hand. He let go, seething with anger from the glass shards in his hand. Rin held out one of her hands, and from it came a blast of fire, burning the skin off of her father's face before he could go in to attack her again.

He screamed in agony as his eyeballs boiled in his skull, bursting after a few moments of the intense heat that just would not let up. His brain was being cooked, his body seized and shook, but to no avail as he soon fell dead as a victim to the flames.

As her father collapsed, the fire from Rin's hand stopped and she watched as he fell to the floor, his skull clearly visible through the front of his face, his empty eye sockets and burned skin, she saw all of it.

She ran. As fast as her feet could carry her, she ran, and ran, and ran without ever turning back. Her pajamas and night slippers lasted her until she reached the next town three days later. The villagers stopped the girl, seeing that she had been drinking from streams and eating raw fish for the past few days.

They clothed and dressed her, but when she told them where she was from, they ran her out of town.

She continued on, drifting from town to town, being kicked out, berated, and downright attacked. As she passed through, so did her story.

Along her journey, she made her way to the border, which she quickly passed through, hoping no one in that country would know her name.

They did.

Everywhere she went, she was shouted at by the townspeople.

"There she is! The _Demon_!" They would say.

But she had grown numb to these insults, the simply bounced off of her.

Rin walked a steady pace for miles, when her shoes ripped, she walked on her bare feet, when they bled from fatigue, she kept walking. Some nights she would be attacked, whether by people or wild animals. People were easy to predict. Wolves attacked together, but never at the same time. Danger Beasts always had a weakness. Everything had a weakness. She grew to know things like that.

The flames she could produce would scare anything away, she could burn down an entire town with a snap of her fingers. Where there was oxygen, there could be fire.

For years she walked, honing her skills as she traveled from country to country. She kept her hair short, but let her bangs grow to cover only the left side of her face.

She had walked through many countries for a total of six years, making her age around nineteen years old.

Her height and bust size had certainly developed, she remembered it to be an important topic in the younger years of her life, her mother had quite the large bust, and it seemed she would too. The town she was in had many people, none of which knowing who she was or where she came from, but all seeming to know she was an outsider.

"Hello there, traveler!" The voice was from a bearded man behind a large counter, filled with various fruits and vegetables. He wore a great big smile on his face.

Rin realized how long it had been since she had truly _listened_ to someone. His voice was suddenly overwhelmed by voices of others around her, talking amongst themselves.

"New to the Capital?" He asked. "Did you come for the parade?"

Rin tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, she had met many people on her journey, none of them kind to someone like her.

The man smiled at her, seeming to take her ignorance to the event as a question. "We're celebrating Night Raid's great battle, haven't you heard the news?"

Rin shook her head, only to have a newspaper shoved towards her. Instead of taking it, she read it out of his hand, leaning forward.

From what she quickly gathered, a group of people called Night Raid had defeated a great threat to the capital city she was now in, and we're being called heroes for it.

After leaving the crowded city streets, Rin found herself walking down a rather empty dirt road into the country. Something ahead was blocking the road, it looked like a Danger Beast in the form of a dog-sized praying mantis. It was standing underneath a small tree, looking up at a low hanging branch where someone was trying to hide from it.

Rin raised an eyebrow. That Danger Beast was extremely weak, children that were crafty enough could kill it if they tried, so what was the problem?

The praying mantis leaped up, grabbing for the girl's long white hair, just barely missing. Rin heard the girl cry out in fear, and began to walk over to the mantis, narrowing her eyes as her entire right arm engulfed in flames.

Rin swung at the mantis once she was next to it, smashing her fist into it's skull and blowing its entire body apart, catching aflame and incinerating as the tiny pieces fell to the ground.

"It's safe now." Rin said, looking up and expelling the flames on her arm, offering to help the younger girl down.

The uncertain-looking girl took Rin's hand, and was helped down from the tree, brushing off as she landed.

Rin studied the much shorter girl, her skin was a little sun kissed, but her hair was pure white, her emerald eyes seemed to glow paired with her red long sleeved shirt with white trim and cuffed sleeves at the middle of her forearm. A black miniskirt led down to dark blue stockings and black boots.

The girl seemed to do the same, Rin looked down at herself, she wore a blue sweater that had burned off from the shoulder down, showing off her toned arms. Her black compression shorts hugged tightly against her just as muscular upper thighs, giving her absolute freedom of movement. She had never worn shoes after they kept breaking in her, her feet were extremely tough after never using them, so she felt no need to wear shoes.

Rin noticed that the white haired girl stopped looking at her clothes and was looking at her face with a happy expression. Rin blushed from the attention, looking away from the girl and twisting the long bangs that covered her burned face in nervousness.

"Thanks for taking care of that nasty thing." She laughed with a big grin on her face. "I'm Skyrah."

Rin nodded quickly, looking at the girl for just a moment. She was pretty, and had a pretty smile too. Rin smiled back bashfully.

"Rin." Rin replied with a tiny smile that was quickly replaced by a worried expression. "You aren't afraid?"

"Of what? The bug?" Skyrah asked, confused by the question.

Rin shook her head. "Me."

Skyrah was even more confused. "Why would I be afraid of you?" She laughed. "That was actually pretty cool."

Rin was surprised by the answer, most people were afraid after seeing her ability. "Cool?"

Skyrah gripped her fists, holding them in front of her in excitement. "Do you mind showing me what else you can do?" She said with sparkles in her eyes.

Rin felt something strange in her heart. "W-what do you mean?" The blush already on her cheeks grew larger.

"We could go head to head in a sparring match!" Skyrah's cheerfulness and buoyant attitude caught Rin completely off guard, she was hardly ever met with kindness, but this girl was the nicest of all the people she had met.

Rin had never sparred with someone, especially someone who couldn't even fight a weak Danger Beast, but she was not about to tell this girl no. "We can do that, but I don't want to hurt you." She said.

"Don't worry about that, you won't hurt me." Skyrah smiled, getting into a fighting position.

Rin smirked, her shimmering orange eyes becoming dull. "Come on then."

Skyrah felt a new aura around Rin, she was exerting her own pressure as her power was building up. She didn't wait for any other opening.

With a dash to the left beforehand, Skyrah blasted forward at incredible speed, rearing her fist back and swinging right for Rin's face. Right as she thought she would make contact, her fist fazed right through her.

Skyrah skidded to a halt, looking around and trying to find Rin again. Had she really sped up so quickly as to make Skyrah attack her afterimage?

A heat behind her made her spin around on her heel, swinging her free leg and kicking at Rin, who effortlessly ducked under it. Skyrah watched as she raised from the floor and smashed her flaming fist under Skyrah's chin, launching her into the sky.

Skyrah hit the ground hard, bouncing backwards and skidding across the ground until she stopped, quickly getting back to her feet.

"Damn." Skyrah grit her teeth. That definitely hurt. This girl was much faster and stronger than she anticipated.

Rin looked over at Skyrah. "You could kill a much bigger Danger Beast with moves like that, why did you need help with the mantis?" She questioned under her breath. Something suddenly caught her eyes, Skyrah was spreading her arms out.

Skyrah slammed her fists together. "300 percent!" The ground underneath Skyrah cracked and crumbled, her blood was heating up.

"Oh?" Rin was intrigued. Skyrah's strength had tripled within seconds.

Skyrah rushed in again, grabbing Rin by the face and jerking her to the side, throwing her at the ground.

Rin put one hand down and pressed against the ground, flipping backwards and landing safely on her feet, no damage to see.

Skyrah's eyes widened. "What?!" She shouted in frustration.

Rin smiled, happy that Skyrah was impressed with her abilities.

"I think that's Night Raid's member, Skyrah." Two people had been walking along the dirt road and stopped to spectate the fight.

"Really?" One of the two women asked her friend. "Isn't she the one that took down the Giant?"

Skyrah blocked out their words, charging back in at Rin and getting caught by the left side of her shirt.

"Bye." Rin laughed.

An explosion threw Skyrah back into the ground, blowing a hole in her shirt and showing off the pink bra underneath.

"Dammit!" Skyrah slammed her fist into the ground as she laid on her back. She jumped up and stood, heaving for breath.

"Damn, she probably didn't intend on showing those off today." A group of men had gathered, all heckling the young girl.

Skyrah grit her teeth, she didn't like attention from civilians in the first place, and this was even worse.

"Hey! Do you plan on fighting her?!" Rin shouted, surprising both Skyrah and the group of men.

The men didn't say anything.

Rin burst from her standstill, approaching Skyrah at a speed she had never even seen.

Skyrah made an X over her chest with her arms and blocked Rin's initial attack. Skyrah grabbed Rin's arm and pulled her forward, smashing her fist into her face with the opening she received. Without waiting,she jumped up, using her knee to attack Rin's head once again, the rotating her hips and kicking Rin aside.

The men and Rin were surprised Skyrah was able to keep up with that speed.

Skyrah rushed Rin and slammed her fist into her stomach, knocking all the wind out of the short haired girl. Within a moment, Skyrah was behind her recoiling body, kicking her right in the spine and crushing her against the grass.

Rin used her flames and launched upwards, focusing all of her flames' energy into her fist and releasing a devastating punch to Skyrah's core, tearing a hole the the front of Skyrah's shirt that showed off her six-pack abs that most of the men in the group would kill to have.

Rin threw an overhead punch, but was blocked by Skyrah's forearm. With both of their free arms, they both punched and met each other's fist, causing a surge of power to blast in all directions around them.

When they separated, they stared each other down. A crowd had gathered on the dirt road, watching the intense battle before them. Skyrah had raised her power when Rin wasn't paying attention, she had been fighting at 400 percent, and that still wasn't enough. There was no way she was going to be able to hold 500 percent for more than a few seconds, so she had to use her Trump Card.

"100 percent!" Skyrah shouted, giving a big smile to her adversary.

Rin felt all of Skyrah's power vanish, she was back to her original form.

"That's it. You win." Skyrah swallowed her pride, she didn't want to get herself hurt in a fight that didn't really matter, and her Trump Card was a bit out of the question.

Rin's strength was incredible. She was just as powerful as Akame, maybe even stronger than that.

Rin smiled and thought of the battle. "That was incredible." She whispered, making it only audible to Skyrah. "You're the strongest I've ever faced."

Skyrah was surprised. The strongest? That couldn't be true, how could the girl had gotten so strong without fighting someone or something stronger than Skyrah?

Without any hesitation, Skyrah held out a fist and grinned.

Rin blushed again at the beautiful girl before her. She didn't seem to have taken any serious damage from the battle, just some scrapes here and there.

Rin put up her fist to finish the greeting, bumping them together with the younger and shorter girl.

Skyrah finally seemed to notice the height difference, Rin was around Leone or Najenda's height, and she was still stuck under yet another person.

Rin turned to walk away, but Skyrah grabbed her hand, pulling her in a different direction.

"Come with me!" Skyrah said, looking over her shoulder. "There's some people that have to meet you!"

Her eyes were absolutely gorgeous, Rin felt her heart skip a beat as she looked into them. She had never felt like this before.

" _Is this… love?"_ Rin thought, her mind slowing and focusing on the person in front of her.

She smiled and stopped dragging her feet, following silently behind Skyrah with a warm smile and a blush on her face. Wherever she was being led, she would happily stay by her side.


	20. Chapter 20: Kill The Stress

**Chapter 20**

 **Kill The Stress**

 **WARNING (PLEASE READ)**

 **This chapter contains explicit sexual content that may be inappropriate for children under the age of 18, if you do not wish to read the content, please skip the content within the - border. If you do wish to read the content, please leave feedback in the reviews, this is my first time writing something like this and would like to know if I need to do something different next time. Thank you for reading and have a great day!**

 **1 week later…**

Only a week had gone by, but Rin had already become a member of Night Raid after demonstrating her skills and explaining her past to Najenda and the rest of the group. Rhys immediately took interest in her and her strange ability, trying to get her to agree to him testing on her right off the bat, but was quickly silenced by Skyrah.

Rin had a strange outlook on human lives, the terms 'Good' and 'Evil' didn't make much sense to her, yet she was not opposed to killing, and warmed up to the idea much faster than some others.

Skyrah and Najenda acknowledged her more than the rest of the group, who had been busy and stressed from the large influx of jobs they were on. Skyrah hardly saw Akame or the others the entire week, and when they were seen, they were asleep, only to be gone a few hours later.

Skyrah was in charge of her training, but Najenda quickly realized how proficient of a fighter Rin was and soon began to teach her some of the chores around the base, which she couldn't have been worse at.

One of the few times Skyrah had seen Mine awake was when Rin crashed through her skylight while cleaning the roof. Rin, who suffered literally no injury from the shattered glass, was chased out of Mine's room by the said owner, wielding her Tiegu and blowing giant holes in walls as she tried to catch a giggling Rin.

Skyrah had finally found a free night with Akame, and was overwhelmingly excited to have a night with her, which they would follow up with some relaxation the next day.

After the other members had gone to bed, Skyrah found herself alone at last with her girlfriend, who hadn't bathed or slept much in the past week. Akame had been having trouble sleeping lately, and had only told Skyrah that she had something on her mind that had been keeping her awake.

"You can bathe first, give me... just a moment." Akame said, yawning and closing her eyes just before she finished her sentence. She was already in her night clothes in bed, her black underwear was clearly visible as Skyrah leaned to the side and looked right up under Akame's shirt that was a few sizes too large. She was laying on her back, her hands up by her head, which gave Skyrah a devilish idea.

Skyrah slipped out of her skirt, shirt, and bra, leaving her white cotton panties with a little heart on the front as her only article of clothing left on. She slid up from the foot of the bed on top of Akame, keeping her breasts pressed against her girlfriend so they were mostly hidden.

"Hello~" Skyrah cooed as Akame slowly opened her eyes, watching with a growing blush in her face as Skyrah slid up her body until her face rested on Akame's breasts. Skyrah's head was in such a perfect place that it hid her behind, that was up in the air with the help of her arched back and support from her legs. Skyrah knew exactly what she was doing, and she loved it.

Akame had wide eyes and an embarrassed blush on her cheeks, her breath was hotter than ever, this feeling inside of her was a new one, but she loved it.

"W...Wow." Akame said softly, trying to reach around Skyrah's body to explore with her hands but being quickly pinned where she was.

"What do you think you're doing?" Skyrah said with an innocent smile.

Akame was breathing heavily, squirming underneath Skyrah. "S-stop it…" She moaned.

Skyrah leaned forward, right next to Akame's ear and traced the outside of her ear with her wet, hot tongue.

"Make me."

Akame's brain was going crazy, she weakly fought against Skyrah, trying to lean up for a kiss, but ultimately failing.

Skyrah slid her hand under Akame's big shirt, finding that Akame had already taken off her bra and began to massage her breasts softly, getting little moans of pleasure from her defenseless girlfriend.

Skyrah gently bit through Akame's shirt onto her hardening nipple, gently rolling it between her teeth.

"Skyrah…!" Akame whimpered, tightening a grip on the blankets with the free hand she hadn't noticed yet.

A little giggle from Skyrah made Akame even hotter inside.

With her massaging hand, Skyrah slowly slipped away from Akame's breast, releasing her grip with her teeth as well, and grabbed Akame's backside, giving it a little squeeze for good measure. Skyrah knew she was driving her girlfriend crazy like this.

"You're sexy like this, babe." Skyrah mocked Akame's position, that she was trying desperately to get out of. "I should have done this sooner."

"This…!" Akame moaned. "This is what was on my mind!" She tried to explain.

Skyrah grinned lustfully, making direct eye contact from the girl she was dominating. "I thought so, you've been giving me some strange looks before bed this week." She revealed. "You should have told me."

"I-" Akame was cut off by lips pressed against her own.

"Quiet. All I want to hear is you moaning." Skyrah said, licking down Akame's lips trailing down to her neck, where she kissed and licked and sucked the tender skin.

"Oh my god…" Akame moaned, she felt like she was on fire. Everything Skyrah said in that sexy tone of her's was driving her crazy, she wanted out of her clothes, and to put her hands all over Skyrah.

"Eyes." Skyrah used her hand and covered Akame's eyes, eliciting a gasp from the young girl.

Skyrah let go of Akame's other arm, which seemed to have no intention of moving. She grabbed the bottom of Akame's shirt and pulled it up, revealing her perfectly perky breasts. Just the sudden cool air on her now exposed nipples was enough to make Akame gasp.

As Skyrah massaged with her hands, tongue and teeth, Akame moaned and whimpered louder than usual, she couldn't see what was going on, so every tender and caring touch was a burst of pleasure for her.

Skyrah heard Akame's cute gasps and whimpers begin to speed it, and just as Akame was opening her mouth for a loud moan, Skyrah quickly leaned in and put her lips to Akame's.

Akame moaned loudly into Skyrah's mouth, trembling and shivering from the incredible ecstasy that just rocked her body. Between her legs was wet, along with her panties and the bed sheets.

Skyrah sprung up and covered her chest, further teasing Skyrah as she turned around, dropping her covering arm and slipping into the bathroom.

Akame felt butterflies in her stomach, it wasn't a new feeling to be kissed by Skyrah, but that felt so much different. Her insides heated up and she felt uncomfortable in the clothes she was in, causing her to squirm and let out a little sigh.

"Skyrah…" Akame stared at the bathroom door that had been closed only moments before longingly. She could never get tired of Skyrah's company and caring attitude.

They had grown stronger than ever before since they met, building their bond physically and mentally,they had been seeing each other for quite a long time, and yet they still hadn't done some things normal couples would. Skyrah would take her on dates pretty regularly, but the two still seemed like they were missing a specific bond that other couples had.

Leone had mentioned it, it was one conversation she was far too bashful to tell Skyrah about. Leone randomly brought up topics about them still having not made love.

The water in the bathroom started, it slowly filled up the bath.

It was a strange and embarrassing topic for Akame. Skyrah had known Akame to have little shame, and Akame knew Skyrah had quite a lot. They hadn't ever spoke on the topic together, it never seemed to be on Skyrah's mind. But ever since Leone had made that comment, Akame constantly thought lusty things about her significant other's body, it made her feel an attraction to Skyrah she hadn't ever felt before.

Akame's body felt hot, she pulled at her clothes until she had stripped herself naked.

The water coming from the faucet stopped, Akame let out a deep breath and tilted her head so she faced the ceiling and closed her eyes, a huge blush covered her face.

She thought about Skyrah climbing into the soapy bathwater, giving a small grin as her gorgeous white hair floated on the surface of the water, and slowly sank as it became wet and heavy from the hot bathwater.

An aroma of lavender came from under the closed bathroom door, Akame could also smell a fading scent of Skyrah's perfume. Her body almost moved on it's own, she began a slow walk to the other end of the room, where Skyrah was hidden behind a closed door.

Akame slowly approached the door, her heart beating faster and louder as she reached her hand out to grab the door handle. She eventually slipped her warm fingers around the cold metal and pushed open the door, a thick steam was in the air, hiding some of the room around her, but her eyes were locked onto Skyrah, who stared up at Akame's glassy, crimson eyes with her dazzling emerald.

"Akam-"

Akame was over to Skyrah within a second, her lips pressed passionately against her lover's. Skyrah was shocked and embarrassed, but also felt a very calm atmosphere around her. Akame's lips were warm and her breath was hot, the sight of her naked body made Skyrah feel strange.

When the kiss was broken, Skyrah noticed Akame in the tub with her, everything under her breasts were hidden underneath the water and soap floating on the surface.

Skyrah opened her mouth to talk again, but was met with another kiss, this one even more passionate and lusty than the other, Akame's hands slid around Skyrah's smooth skin and explored the most sensitive spots of her body, causing Skyrah to gasp as Akame's soft fingers touched her. She began to push back into the kiss, but Akame sapped all of Skyrah's strength and dominated her body, claiming it as her own.

"Akame…" Skyrah moaned softly as Akame's fingers found their way between Skyrah's legs while the other hand held Skyrah's back, keeping them close together.

Skyrah broke the kiss and bit down onto Akame's shoulder, Akame definitely felt her sharp teeth, but the pain turned into pleasure in their situation. Skyrah was closing her eyes and fighting against the intense pleasure she was feeling at the moment. She shuddered and gasped at every slight touch of Akame's. Her mind was blank, overtaken by the ecstasy shooting through her body like lightning.

Akame felt all the muscles in Skyrah's body tense up for a few seconds and heard her let out a muffled moan into her shoulder. Soon after she went limp, her whole body gave out all at once as she took deep, shaky breaths. She soon felt the same intense feeling, she hadn't even noticed Skyrah's hand in between her legs, trying it's best to keep up. Akame squeezed Skyrah tightly and let out a loud moan that echoed through the bathroom.

The two were both breathing heavily in the steamy bathroom, their bodies still quivering from their first ever orgasms together.

Akame helped Skyrah rise from the tub and the two dried each other off without a word, their minds were exhausted and so were their bodies. They fell into bed together, each in soft white towels, they soon took them off and climbed under the covers, holding each other tight and lovingly, smiling happily.

"I love you." Akame said.

"I love you too." Skyrah replied.

The two drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

The next day Skyrah was away from the base. Akame and her had planned to go along with Tatsumi and Mine to the capital and spend a day all together. A little double date that Tatsumi feared to go along with. Three girls could only mean one thing. Shopping. Every time Mine and him went out, he always found himself awkwardly sitting in a female underwear store, with women of every age staring at him. He could only imagine what it would be like with two other girls, he'd have to leash them so they didn't go running all in different directions.

At least Skyrah was more boyish than the others, Mine was very girly and Akame was too, she just hid it well. He would have someone to share his pain with.

It was around the middle of the day when they all met on the outskirts of the Capital. They had all dressed differently for the occasion. It was strange to see each other without their normal gear on.

Skyrah wore a red checkered miniskirt and black leggings, accompanied by neutral black heeled boots. She wore a light grey sweater because of the cooling weather and large black sunglasses, her hair had been curled at the ends and still retained its white color.

Akame was in a salmon colored long sleeve shirt and black pants with matching black shoes, her hair hadn't been changed, despite Skyrah wanting to curl it like hers.

Mine wore a dark brown sweater and black skin tight workout pants with fluffy white boots, her eyes were covered by white sunglasses like Skyrah.

Tatsumi wore his usual clothing, despite the protesting from Mine.

"Where are we going first?" Mine questioned.

"Anywhere but-" Tatsumi tried.

"Clothing store!" Mine and the two girls cheered together, making Tatsumi break into tears right away.

The group rushed through the streets together, holding each other's hands until they reached a store, where they all split off, looking at various things.

Tatsumi looked around in despair, hoping to see someone, anyone to relate with.

Mine was looking at dresses, that was a no-go.

Akame was browsing various colors of women's underwear, that was definitely not a situation he wanted himself in.

Skyrah seemed to be looking at something out of the window, that was his best bet.

He walked over and poked her shoulder, which she reacted to.

"Hmm?" She questioned without turning.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, looking out of the window.

Skyrah pushed her finger to the window, Tatsumi followed the direction she was pointing until his eyes landed on a poster. It was a picture of a masked little kid in what looked to be a makeshift set of armor.

"A movie poster?" He questioned.

"It's for a martial arts tournament." Skyrah pointed out, making Tatsumi notice it was actually a flyer for people to join in.

"I think the people just want some entertainment." Tatsumi thought aloud. "It may not be lawless, but we've given a lot more freedom for the people since we've been in charge." He explained.

"I never asked about that." Skyrah began, turning to Tatsumi. "How did Night Raid end up coming to power after driving out the government?"

Tatsumi narrowed his eyes. "After The Emperor was executed, we built a new government from some of the Generals of our military." He said, turning to her. "Wild Hunt had been hidden until you got here within the city and Esdeath and her Jaegers had gone into hiding, some of us speculated they had fled the country, they are technically war criminals." He explained.

"I see." Skyrah said. "So everything came back when I got here."

"Kind of a strange coincidence, but yeah, the timing was almost perfect." He said. "We had recently found out where Esdeath was when you got here, but she's been moving."

Skyrah crossed her arms. "Didn't Esdeath have a thing for you?" She asked.

"Yeah, it was a scary time in my life." Tatsumi shivered. "Now she's gotten obsessed with you."

With a nod, Skyrah left the window and picked something up. She poked Tatsumi to get him to turn around and held up a pair of black and red lace panties and matching bra only inches from his face.

"Do you think Akame would like these?" She questioned.

Tatsumi practically leaped back. "How the hell should I know?!" He shout-whispered, not trying to draw attention.

Skyrah pursed her lips and walked off, her heeled boots clicking on the ground as she made her way to Akame, who showed a blush and nod to the clothing article.

Tatsumi turned away in mild annoyance. Skyrah was obviously messing with him, but he still didn't like to be asked such a strange question even by Mine, let alone someone he wasn't even dating.

The group browsed around stores for another few hours, almost boring Tatsumi half to death. When all of them had gotten hungry, they went out to a fancy restaurant where the waitress recognized Akame, Tatsumi, and Mine.

"You're all members of Night Raid, aren't you?" She seemed flustered and almost a little scared of the individuals before her.

Tatsumi nodded. "We would really appreciate if you didn't make a huge deal about it." He said with a warm smile to the auburn haired waitress with blue eyes. "We're not really trying to be noticed."

"Of course, I understand." She turned to Skyrah. "And is this one of your friends?"

Skyrah felt a shudder within her body as the bright blue eyes of the girl fell onto her, she hadn't recognized her, but Skyrah could see something hidden behind the smile of her's.

"Skyrah." She introduced herself, shaking hands with the waitress, feeling an even more powerful shudder within her body.

"The Skyrah who took down the Giant outside of town?" The waitress was giddy.

Skyrah blushed. "Yes, that was me and Tatsumi."

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you." She said. "Descriptions of you said you have brown hair, and that you have metal arms and legs."

Skyrah chuckled a little. "I did, it's kind of a long story though."

The waitress eventually took their orders and after about another hour, they had finished their food and she was back, seeing them out.

As the others left the restaurant, Skyrah opened the door for herself, but felt a hand fall on her shoulder.

The waitress stood behind her with darkened eyes and a cold expression on her face.

"Skyrah…" She said slowly. "Enjoy the time you have with them."

Skyrah faced her, narrowing her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" She knew that the waitress had something to do with the shuddering she'd been feeling, and this seemed a little hostile, coming from a little waitress.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." She said with a sweet smile on her face. "My name is Maya, of Devil's Core. Remember that." Skyrah was lightly pushed out of the restaurant, looking behind her to speak to her friends.

Four other people stood, three of them each holding a member of Night Raid tightly. Both Akame and Tatsumi had been knocked out, Mine had her mouth covered, but was kicking and flailing to try and break free.

Skyrah didn't have time to react before the only free-handed one of the three rushed forward, using both of his palms and hitting her in both of her temples at once, knocking her out in an instant.


	21. Chapter 21: Kill The Enemy

**Chapter 21**

 **Kill The Enemy**

Skyrah's eyes slowly opened, a dim, candlelit room greeted her, allowing her to scan the room as her eyes quickly adjusted. She was hung up by her wrists by thick metal chains that came down from the ceiling. All of her other friends were in the same position as her, each in a line that faced a large metal door.

"Akame, Tatsumi." She said, her voice hurting her throat as it came out. Neither of them showed any sign of moving, let alone waking up. "Mine?" She choked out, not seeing any movement from her either. Their bodies looked beaten and battered, unlike her own.

"Strange how you're awake before them." A voice said. "The gas should be enough to keep you all asleep."

Skyrah jerked her head around, looking for the owner of the voice.

"We're still discussing our deal with you. Stop fighting it and fall back asleep." Skyrah watched as the man she had seen clutching Akame suddenly appear from the darkness before her.

He was a tall, bearded man with long blonde hair that reached down to his shoulders. A black suit with a white undershirt and a black tie matched with his black slacks and black dress shoes, he looked unlike anyone she had ever met. The three jagged scars running under his left eyes gave him a more upset appearance.

"Who the hell are you?" Skyrah could taste the thick gas that was supposed to be keeping her asleep as she spoke.

"Hendricks, from Devil's Core." He said with a small smile. "I wouldn't try attacking me either." He reached out and tapped Skyrah on the forehead.

Skyrah's eyes widened, fear rushed through her body without any reasoning. Right when she had been touched, an indescribable fear of everything around her slid into her brain, making her shake.

"I'm from the Western continent." Hendricks said in a monotonous voice. "We've come to give Night Raid a message." He once again raised his hand, pressing it against Skyrah's stomach this time.

A sharp pain ripped through her body, making her scream and kick, trying to relieve any of the shocking pain in her core. It felt like she had been stabbed again.

"Stop!" Skyrah cried, feeling tears rush to her eyes. "Get off of me!" Skyrah kicked her leg upwards, catching him in the side of the head.

Pain rocketed through her leg, making her scream again.

"I think you people would call what I have a Teigu." Hendricks chuckled. "In my country it's called a curse."

"W-what?" Skyrah grit her teeth through the pain.

"Whenever I want, I can make an emotion or feeling go through your body, just by touching you." He explained. "Fear, Pain, Sadness, Anger… Anything."

Skyrah pulled on her chains, trying to free herself.

"I wouldn't do that either." Hendricks smiled.

A burst of electricity shot down through her chains, racing down into her body and electrocution her body, making her light up from the sheer amount of power being sent through her. Her voice was only a squeak as the electrical growl halted, making most of the light fade in the room.

Hendricks frowned. This wasn't how this was supposed to go, he needed information.

He held his palm out and struck her across the face, making a loud _smack!_ echo through the room. She slowly looked up to him, giving him the attention he wanted. The quickly reddening mark on her face was quickly streamed over by tears.

Hendricks rushed forward, grabbing Skyrah by her hair and slamming the back of her head into the wall behind her, holding her there as he brought his face close to her's. "I need answers." He muttered in monotone voice. "Where. Is. Esdeath?"

Skyrah felt the tears streaming across her stinging face, the throbbing pain in the back of her head, the shaking in her limbs from the electricity, and the sting from him pulling on her hair. She couldn't even get a word out.

"Tell me." He growled. "And this can all be over."

Skyrah didn't know where Esdeath was, what could she possibly tell him?

"I… Don't… Know…" She whimpered, getting another slap to the same side of her face.

"You weaklings haven't gotten a single piece of information for us since the war, when you were supposed to kill them!" He hit her twice more, then used his free hand to grab onto her neck, choking her. "I don't understand why we keep you two-bit assassins around." He said, intensifying his grip.

Skyrah couldn't use Limit Break, it simply wouldn't respond.

"Who would care if I killed you right here?" Hendricks questioned, locking eyes with Skyrah's. "Najenda? No, she's lost enough to where she must be numb to this kind of thing." He answered himself. "Look how pathetic and weak you are, look how worthless and useless you are."

Skyrah could feel her consciousness fading from the lack of oxygen.

"Beg for mercy, and maybe I'll think about not killing you." He said, sending another wave of fear and pain into Skyrah's body.

"That's enough, Hendrick's."

Skyrah was immediately let go, she coughed and hacked as air was allowed into her lungs, she could still feel his hands around her neck, but she knew they were gone.

The metal door in the front of the room was opened, Skyrah could see the outline of a tall woman with shorter hair, speaking to Hendrick's.

Eventually he half-turned back to Skyrah, his brown eyes seemed to be glowing red. "Each one of the six members of Devil's Core is stronger than the most powerful on this continent." He said. "Be sure to tell Najenda that." He turned to walk away, but stopped right before he closed the door. "One more thing. We hereby declare war on your continent, Night Raid. The western world has finally overthrown our old, peace-loving geezers that ran the government. This entire world will be a part of our Empire, and in a year's time, we'll be here for you." As he finished his words, he stepped out and closed the door, making Skyrah's eyes slowly close as she slipped out of consciousness.

" _Najenda… What have you been keeping from us?"_ Skyrah thought as she drifted away, succumbing to the pain in her body.

Akame's eyes shot open. The freezing cold winter rain made her mind snap to attention, she looked around as fast as she could, finding the unmoving bodies of her three friends. They were in the middle of the road, the sky was black and no moon cast any extra light down onto them. Only a lone streetlamp allowed her to see the Capital buildings around her.

The gag on her was quickly removed by her as she scrambled to her feet. She had little sense of direction in the night, especially when she didn't know exactly where in the capital she was.

"Help!" She shouted. "Anyone!" Akame rushed to her friends, removing the gags from them and dragging them one by one out of the rain and under a small overhang.

A black carriage came out of the night, the horses' hooves cracked on the stone in the night, echoing through the empty streets. It stopped right in front of the battered members of Night Raid, the two people driving it looked down at them, removing their hoods and revealing two familiar faces. Both Leone and Najenda.

"I'll get everyone inside." Leone hopped down from the carriage and picked up Skyrah and Tatsumi, leaving Mine to Akame. "Get in, and don't ask questions."

"Leone?" Akame was surprised. "How did you find us?"

"We got tipped off that you'd be around here tonight." She said quickly. "Hurry up, we need you all out of the rain."

Akame did as she was told and picked up Mine, waiting for Leone to place Tatsumi and Skyrah inside before getting in, feeling a warmth quickly aid her freezing body. Leone got back up on the carriage and sped away.

Tatsumi and Mine were on either side of Akame, and across them Skyrah was leaned up against the last person she expected.

Esdeath.

Akame's reaction was quickly read by the older woman.

"Don't ask me, I don't know the purpose of this either." Esdeath muttered, holding Skyrah close to her, much to Akame's dismay.

Leone had specifically told her not to ask questions. Akame bit her tongue and looked out of the window, trying to focus on something else.

Who were the people that had taken them? They were terrifying, and powerful. Akame met one of them when she woke up before any of her other friends, tied up in a dark room. He had told her what was to come. War was coming.

"Devil's Core?" Esdeath was looking out of the same window as Akame. "I guess it would be the only reason Najenda would ask for help."

"What do you mean?" Akame spat, her words like venom.

Esdeath faced her. "It's been three days since you've been missing." She informed her. "Najenda informed me that you had been captured by them, and asked for me to meet her yesterday, and we spoke for a long time."

Akame was in awe, why would Najenda ever ask for help from Esdeath?

"It's what I would have done." Esdeath said, crossing her arms and looking down at her feet. "Even if we are enemies, this is our home, and the powerful must protect it." A blush formed on her cheeks.

Akame was starstruck. Night Raid and the Jaegers… a team?

"Why do we need you?" Akame narrowed her eyes at the woman, who looked back up and glared at her.

"I'm the strongest on this continent, I'm the only chance you've got." Esdeath glared daggers at Akame.

Akame saw her red eyes reflecting of of Esdeath's blue.

"That's a bold statement."

"And a true one."

"Did you forget how you ran from me during our fight in the Capital?" Akame leaned forward.

Esdeath smiled. "I've gotten stronger."

"So have I." Akame retorted.

Both parties glared at each other until the carriage stopped.

"We're here!" Leone shouted from outside.

Akame leaned over, grabbing Skyrah and picking her up bridal style, watching Esdeath's face contort into anger.

Akame stepped out of the carriage, letting Leone grab Tatsumi and Najenda carry Mine into Night Raid's base, with Esdeath following close behind.

Najenda was uneasy as she entered her home, hearing a bit of ruckus from the main meeting room. As Skyrah, Tatsumi, and Mine awoke, she grew even more cautious of how this meeting could end. All three of them were confused and angry at the situation before them. The Jaegers and Night Raid in the same room was not an entirely great idea, some of them had specific rivalries with one another, any tension could cause her plan to fall apart, as well as her country.

As Najenda entered, all of the formerly unseen members were sat at a large table. Fox and Rhys were talking, both smiling with actual happiness. Rin and Kurome seemed to be getting along as well.

Wave and Run both sat together, but weren't really speaking like the others, they seemed to be scanning their surroundings. Run stood up right as Esdeath entered the room.

"Esdeath, what exactly is going on?" Run asked what was on everyone's minds.

Skyrah nodded slowly, still not fully awake from her prolonged slumber.

Esdeath eyed Run as she sat down at the very bottom of the table, facing Najenda who was at the very top.

"I'll be explaining that shortly." Najenda said as she took a seat. "But first we need to address something."

Najenda took a deep breath and everyone put their attention on her.

"I know this is strange, sitting in the same room with your enemies." She said. "But we all are facing a new threat that neither team can face alone."

"So you think we can all just be friends, just like that?" Skyrah asked, her voice full of doubt.

Najenda knew Skyrah and Mine were going to be the biggest obstacles when it came to this agreement, but she had to make this work one way or another.

"Skyrah, I know the history between you and Esdeath…" She started, getting no response from the young assassin. "But I also know about Devil's Core's plan. We cannot allow hatred to get in the way of protecting this country from the West." She explained.

"This is by no means a bonding time for our groups. But it is in our best interest to not allow any more power to be given to the western continent, not after everything they have done in the past year." Esdeath stated, crossing her arms. "We are not friends, just comrades in a war we already have a slim chance of winning."

Skyrah slammed her fist into the table. "Just how strong can these guys be?" Her eyes were bright with anger. "There are only six of them, and eight of just Night Raid members."

"What about their armies?" Esdeath asked. "They not only have the best Navy in the world, but also the largest military force, unless you've been hiding two or three million rebels in a bag somewhere." She mocked.

"We have almost six-hundred thousand armed soldiers if we combine our forces." Najenda said. "They have around four million highly trained soldiers who live and breathe conflict, not including their Navy."

Skyrah grit her teeth, but Mine spoke up.

"It's not like we can't assist our soldiers after we wipe out Devil's Core." She argued.

"Just how weak do you think these people are?" Esdeath asked in awe. "You're all too naive, it's pathetic."

Mine almost blew up on Esdeath, but Tatsumi quickly stopped her.

"One of Devil's Core members alone could wipe out this entire table of people, with only a little difficulty." Najenda said. "They are on a completely different level in terms of strength, especially with the Curses they have." She placed both of her elbows on the table, balling up both of her fists and pressing them against her forehead.

"Defeat would be certain if we were to attack them now." Esdeath finished. "Not even I stand a chance at the moment."

"We have a year." Tatsumi spoke up. "They said they would be attacking us a year from now."

"They're taunting us, they know we can't beat them and want us to try and give them a good fight." Esdeath said. "They've taken so much land already, it's like they see us as nothing more than an obstacle in their little game."

Skyrah stood up from the table, grabbing Akame's hand.

"Then what exactly are we waiting on?" She asked, getting the whole table's attention. She released a big grin that made even Esdeath and Najenda crack a smile. "In a year's time, I'll get so strong I'll be able to take all of them on at once." Skyrah turned for the exit to the room.

"Where are you going?" Esdeath shouted at her, angry she was showing such affection to Akame before her.

Skyrah glared back at the entire table. "We're going to bed, we know what we have to do. There is nothing else to talk about.

Skyrah slammed the door behind her and Akame, leaving the table silent.

After a few more minutes of silence, Kurome stood up.

"I can't possibly let Akame get stronger than me, so I have to get started as soon as I can too." She said, stretching.

"Agreed, Tatsumi, I'm gonna show you just how much stronger I can get than you're Teigu." Wave said.

"I'll be looking forward to it, Wave." Tatsumi grinned.

"And I'm not gonna let Skyrah blow us all out of the water anymore, I'm gonna become stronger than all of you!" Mine laughed, grabbing Tatsumi and pulling him out of the room, quickly followed by Wave and Kurome.

Fox grinned as she stood. "Last time Skyrah and I fought, I almost had her, after we deal with these Devil's Core bums, I'll surely be stronger than her."

Leone grinned. "Nobody's laying a finger on Skyrah, so I guess I'll have to get stronger too." She agreed, glaring over the table at Fox.

Both of them left the room, eager as ever to get started.

"My strength is the reason I got this far, and there is always room for improvement." Rin stood and exited the room.

Najenda, Rhys, Esdeath, and Run sat at the table, both teams on opposite sides.

"They amaze me." Najenda laughed, looking down at her missing arm. "Always thinking they can reach the stars, go on, kids, make me proud."

Najenda drowsily walked towards Skyrah and Akame's room the next morning, they would be the last in the base to wake up, everyone else had got up bright and early to start their training. It was much unlike the two of them to be missing something the seemed so eager to do the night before.

She knocked on the door, waiting for a response. All that came back was silence.

"Hey, it's time to get up you two!" Najenda called, knocking louder on the door and once again, receiving no answer. "Alright, I'm coming in…"

Najenda twisted the doorknob and pushed lightly, making the door slowly swing open, revealing a perfectly made empty bed, an opened window and a white note hanging on the windowsill above, perfectly where she could see.

"What the hell?" Najenda walked up to the window and snatched the note, reading it quickly.

She made an audible gasp and dropped the note as she finished reading, sprinting out of the room with an intense haste.

Just as the note hit the floor, it unfurled to reveal the writing to anyone passing by.

 _Dear Najenda,_

 _Akame and I decided it would be better for us to train on our own, without the help of anyone else. Don't worry though, this isn't an abandonment letter. We'll be back in one year's time, after we've completed our training together to become a better team. We both understand what it is going to take to win this war, and we'll be ready for it! Don't have Leone go and sniff us out, we'll be there if and when you need us, trust me. We both love you all, see you in a year!_

 _Love, Skyrah_


	22. Chapter 22: Kill The Soldier

**Chapter 22**

 **Kill The Soldier**

 **10 Months until the War.**

Rin walked behind both Skyrah and Akame, while they watched the sun slowly set over the horizon and the beautiful landscape around them, Rin watched something equally as beautiful in her mind. Skyrah was dressed in light clothing, black skin tight exercise pants complimented her shapely bottom and a light grey tank top with only bandages underneath it serving as a bra showed off her chest.

In the two months the three had been traveling together, Rin had realized that Skyrah had an incredible resistance to both heat and cold, multiple times she had been found naked or nearly there, training, bathing, even fighting Danger Beasts in the snow or extremely low temperatures. It was under freezing at the moment, both Akame and Rin had bundled up in heavy sweaters, but Skyrah refused to put on anything extra than what covered her up.

Akame had scolded Skyrah for pulling off her nude shenanigans, warning her that they were not the only people that traveled, but hardly they came across anyone other than the three of them. Living off the land was nothing new to Rin or Akame, but it took Skyrah a bit to get used to, after not having to really hunt for her food.

"It's going to get colder, why don't you put at least something on?" Akame asked, trying to get Skyrah to put one of her coats on. Rin smiled when Skyrah shook her head as per usual, denying warmth.

Rin's mind began to wander, only a week ago they had come across a hot spring and bathed in it together. Even though she had seen it more than once, seeing Skyrah's naked body made Rin feel tingly inside, her toned body was enough to cause a nosebleed for the girl, but she had restrained herself.

When they had began their journey, Skyrah was always a bit embarrassed when she had to bathe with the other two girls, but eventually warmed up to the idea so much she had lost most of her shame. Rin had made jokes about Skyrah's chest, comparing it to Akame's or her much larger ones, making her laugh and even show them off, competing with her two companions. Even with smaller breasts than Akame or her, Skyrah still had a fantastic body that made Rin feel hot just thinking about it.

"There's a town ahead, we should take shelter there for the night." Akame snapped Rin back into reality, she realized the blush that had formed on her cheeks had caught Skyrah's attention.

"Are you alright Rin?" Skyrah asked sweetly, making Rin's heart skip a beat.

She waved her hands in front of her. "O-of course I'm alright!" She stammered.

Skyrah grinned. "Y'know, for someone who uses fire attacks, you get cold pretty easily." She said, looking at the mass amount of clothes Rin had on. "Maybe you just need to take off those layers before you overheat."

Rin's blush grew even larger. "W-w-what?" She looked over to the right, off into the distance. _"Is Skyrah asking me to strip? Right here and now?"_ She thought excitedly.

Akame snapped her fingers. "She probably just needs some rest, let's find somewhere to stay in the town.

Skyrah harrumphed. "I kind of enjoyed being a nomad." She whined. "Can't we just make a campfire again?"

Akame roughly hit her over the head. "We've been out in the cold for three days." She said slowly. "We can take a break, not all of us like the winter."

Skyrah scratched the back of her head, the strike hadn't meant to hurt her, but Akame seemed a little oblivious of how much stronger she had gotten. Even a light hit like that could have knocked Skyrah out two months ago.

"Alright, alright, let's go." Skyrah said, walking towards the town.

All three of them had been silent until reaching the edge of the town when Akame quickly pushed them back, holding them both down behind a bush. Skyrah had seen what she had been so afraid of, there was a group of six soldiers working for Devil's Core.

Leone had done exactly what they had asked her not to do only three days after they had left, finding the three of them easily with her tracking abilities. Although, she had not come with any intention of bringing them back, she had come to warn them that Devil's Core soldiers were already on the country to "Keep the peace". Najenda has specifically told them not to engage them and to avoid it at all costs.

Skyrah, Akame, and Rin watched what they were doing behind the cover of the bush. The six of them had surrounded a young girl, speaking in English, a language the poor girl couldn't hope to understand.

" _Whaddya think the boss'll say if we have a lil' fun with this one?"_ The largest member asked, cackling loudly.

A much smaller, scrawny one laughed louder. _"What can she say? It's just one foreigner, we'll get rid of her when we're done."_

" _This country will be ours sooner or later anyways, we might as well get a little taste of the product."_ Another soldier butted in, reaching down and grabbing the girl by her hair, picking her up as she screamed for help.

Akame felt a wind beside her, and looked to identify it, seeing an empty spot where Skyrah should be, Rin looked just as confused.

Skyrah was in the middle of the group before any of them could blink, swinging her fist up into the largest one's jaw, launching him across the town. The girl was dropped and Skyrah picked her up, vanishing and appearing about twenty meters away, setting the girl down.

One of the soldiers raised his rifle, firing off three shots.

A door came barreling towards him, catching all three bullets and throwing him off of his feet as it struck him with incredible force.

Another soldier rose his gun, aiming right at the girl he had in his hands a moment before, but felt it raise even higher, Skyrah's arm pushed his arm up before she pulled it downwards, twisting it behind his back and listening to it break.

"Kill her!" One of the three remaining soldiers shouted, sprinting towards her.

Skyrah stood on top of his head one moment and flipped forward, so quickly she as a blur to any spectator, she struck one of the soldiers behind him with her heel and quickly used her momentum to pick him up and throw him into the final soldier, leaving only the leader of the six behind her.

The leader turned around in fear, pulling his pistol and allowing his eyes to adjust, expecting to have to aim at the girl a few yards away, but quickly realized she was right in front of him, her hand firmly grasped around his neck.

"People like you shouldn't even exist." She growled. "I've been itching for a fight, so I can't help but thank you for-"

A slow clap that grew louder as it neared Skyrah made her look to her left to identify the source.

The tall woman that Rin had seen two months before walked out of the shadows, applauding the scene before her.

"Thank you, Skyrah, you don't know how hard it is to keep these ruffians in check." She smiled sweetly at Skyrah, making her heart rate increase. "What's wrong? Scared?" The giant scythe the woman carried made her even more threatening. She wore a white coat with a red head of a demon's skull with long, twisted horns coming out of the top of it's head sewn onto the back of it.

That was the Devil's Core insignia, she was one of the six, no doubt about it.

"You know, attacking another country's soldiers is an act of war." She warned, giving Skyrah a devilish grin as the younger girl dropped the choking soldier.

"So is attacking a country's civilians." Skyrah argued.

The woman smirked. "Who do you think is going to win a war if it started now?" She asked, outstretching her hand. "My name is Ava, leader of Devil's Core and strongest fighter they have." She revealed.

Skyrah grit her teeth, she had gotten stronger in the past two months, she knew that for sure. But this woman… She could feel a pressure coming off of her, like she radiated power. Skyrah was scared for the first time since she had been strung up in a room and tortured by another member who this woman was even stronger than.

Akame and Rin made themselves known, but Skyrah gave them a motion to stay away.

"I'm willing to forget this little incident on one condition." Ava said, looking up at the other members of Night Raid before leaning in and glaring right at Skyrah. "I want you to give me a good fight when the time comes. But until then, don't even think about attacking us again, or I'll bury you and everyone you care about."

Skyrah's fear was very apparent in her eyes, she turned away back to her friends. "Agreed."

With that, Skyrah and her friends left into the night.

The next morning Akame found Skyrah under a waterfall, being pounded by the powerful and freezing cold waves from above. She sat with her legs crossed and her eyes closed, an expression on her face that was anything but calm. She looked furious.

Akame sat on the edge of the pond, watching her girlfriend intensively, she tried her best to put herself in Skyrah's shoes.

She had been told the story of how Skyrah had discovered her Fury Release ability, what she had seen last night had ignited a fire inside of her, Ava being there was the only reason she hadn't killed all of those soldiers. She was constantly being reminded of the ghosts of her past, and was working her body harder than ever before.

Skyrah seemed to be more ignorant of her own power than Akame was. Akame realized she had gotten stronger, but Skyrah had doubled her power and still hadn't let up on her body. Through all of the people Akame had seen train, Skyrah was the hardest worker, she constantly had to improve, no level of power was enough for her, she always had to reach higher.

It seemed like the more strong people Skyrah met, the stronger she pushed herself to become. There was no use trying to stop her either, nothing except for death would stop her from becoming stronger.

Akame wondered how Najenda and the others were doing. Skyrah had initially wanted to go south, but after speaking to a town priest in a town they came across early in their journey, she immediately changed directions and headed north into the colder countries.

She was searching for something. What that was, however, was unknown to anyone but her.

Akame refocused on Skyrah, who had fallen asleep in the middle of Akame's daydreaming.

The red-eyed swordswoman was shocked. The strength of those waves would break bones in a normal person's body, and could bludgeon to death most strong fighters, but Skyrah was sleeping under them?

Akame got to her feet, walking around the pond and crossing under the waterfall, dodging the extremely powerful waves and eventually reaching Skyrah, only being misted by the water.

"Skyrah, sweetheart…" Akame said slowly, close enough to Skyrah so she could be heard.

Skyrah opened her eyes slowly, acknowledging Akame.

"Don't you think you should sleep in a better place?" She asked.

Skyrah nodded and stood up under the pressure of the waterfall and following Akame to shore. Akame watched her girlfriend shiver from the cold water on her body, sneezing in the cutest way she had ever seen.

"Let's not catch a cold, yeah?" Akame wrapped a blanket around Skyrah, pulling her close and kissing her on the lips. When the two of them separated, Skyrah smiled like a kid who just got a gift.

As tough, loud, obnoxious, and fun-loving as she became over time with Night Raid, she was still as cute as ever when she was drowsy.

Rin found her way to the waterfall Skyrah had been sitting under and waded through the shallow water until she found the exact spot Skyrah had been sitting. She sat in the same spot in the same position as she had seen the beautiful young girl Akame was now putting to sleep.

Just as Rin started to feel the water on her body, overwhelming pain spread through her body. She grit her teeth, trying to focus on something else, but the icy water was so fast and strong as it fell on her that she had to jump outwards, almost crying out in pain from the aches in her body.

She was in shock, how was it in any way possible for Skyrah to sit under that for a long period of time, let alone sleep under it like it was nothing? What kind of training was she doing to toughen her body like that?

Akame noticed bruises already forming on Rin's unclothed shoulders and the back of her neck, when checking Skyrah, she found nothing like that.

"Rin, do you have some kind of problem with water?" Akame asked.

"I shouldn't, it's not like I can't be in it." She said, rubbing her shoulders. "But that just hurts, it's too strong to be under." She said with a nervous chuckle.

"Come here, you're going to bruise bad if I don't medicate that." Akame said, calling Rin over and sitting her down, pulling a jar out of her bag and cracking it open, spreading a warm, sticky liquid on Rin's new wounds before bandaging her up. "There. All done."

Rin had a troubled look on her face, something that Akame quickly caught onto.

"What's wrong, Rin?" Akame asked.

Rin looked down to Skyrah, looking at her pretty young face, untouched by any battle scars. She had become stronger than anyone Rin had ever met in just a few months, they still had ten more of training to do, so how much stronger could she climb?

"I feel like we aren't taking this training as seriously as her." Rin looked to the ground, ashamed of herself. "She needs us in this battle as much as we need her, and she's the one getting stronger." She explained. "Don't get me wrong, I know we have improved, but she's just on another level."

"I suppose you feel it too?" Akame asked with a smile on her face.

"What?"

"That pressure she exerts, she doesn't notice it, but I sure do." Akame responded.

"Of course I feel it, she is just filled with power all the time, even when she's tired." Rin agreed. "It's like it's spilling over into her aura."

Akame nodded. "She's strong." Akame narrowed her eyes. "She hasn't used Limit Break since we left, and this is how much she's grown."

Another nod.

There was a prolonged silence between the two as they watched Skyrah sleep, the morning wind blowing through the trees that surrounded them, birds chirped and the sound of the waves crashing against the surface of the water in the distance provided them with noise through the silence.

Akame sat down next to Skyrah putting her hand on the younger girl's forehead and feeling for a fever. She suddenly remembered what Leone had told her a long time before then. She slowly leaned down and puckered her lips, holding them against Skyrah's forehead.

Rin gasped audibly, but covered her mouth, watching Akame rise up after a few seconds and give her a strange look.

Rin uncovered her mouth and revealed a blush on her face. "W-what are you doing?" She stammered.

"Checking her for a fever, she's been working so hard she might have gotten herself sick." Akame said, raising her eyebrow.

"B-but why with your lips?" Rin asked, pointing to the little bit of lip gloss left on Skyrah's forehead.

"Lips are more sensitive to temperature. And..." She recited Leone's words, leaning down and licking off the remnants of her lips gloss from Skyrah's forehead before facing Rin again, who had millions of lewd images running through her head. "... It's normal for people that are dating to show affection, even if she isn't awake to see it."

Something inside of Rin cracked like glass.

"Dating?" She repeated.

"Yes, Skyrah and I have been dating for around 7 months now." Akame answered, feeling confused. "Did neither of us tell you?"

"No." Rin thought hard, how had she not realized that?

"Why do you think me and her are so grabby when we bathe?" Akame questioned, a little blush on her cheeks.

"I thought you two were just good friends… I didn't know you were both…" Rin had an even bigger blush on her cheeks as she remembered how much of Skyrah's body Akame had run her hands all over.

"Yeah, we're together…" Akame said slowly, nervously twirling a bulk of her hair with her index finger. "Sorry, I thought you knew." Akame's blush faded, but Rin's grew even further.

Rin thought of all the dirty things Skyrah and Akame had done together, their bodies intertwined as they lay naked on top of one another, looking into each other's eyes with lust and passion. She imagined what it would be like to run her hands across Skyrah's body, touching and feeling every curve on her smaller body. Blood slowly slid down her upper lip, dripping on the forest floor.

"Rin… Your nose…"


	23. Chapter 23: Kill The Great

**Chapter 23**

 **Kill The Great**

 **2 Months Until the War**

Skyrah knew where she was going, she could feel something guiding her like compass inside of her blood. When she had first started her journey, she spoke to a priest as she passed through a town along with Akame and Rin. He knew about the upcoming war from the intensive media coverage that everyone had become obsessed with. He knew Skyrah's identity, and what she could do.

The secret to unlocking all of Loputon Voima's potential resided in the far northern countries. She had traveled for months, following the difficult directions she had been given by the old geezer, Akame and Rin didn't understand the purpose, but trusted Skyrah either way. They had all trained harder than ever before on their journey, they were more powerful than ever before.

Skyrah knew just how much she had improved in their journey, she had tested her strength without holding any of it back only when alone. Around Akame and Rin, she suppressed as much of her power as she could.

However, this final test wouldn't allow her to hold back, no doubt the fight was going to be tough, but there was no way Skyrah was just going to use all of her power here and just decimate the landscape. It would be a struggle to keep Akame and Rin safe during the battle, from what the priest had told her, what she would have to face was twice, if not three times as strong as the rebuilt Shikoutazer, and just as large.

She would be fighting in it's domain, where it knew what surrounded them and Skyrah didn't.

Skyrah reached in her bag, drawing out an extremely old, broken sword, this was noticed by both Akame and Rin.

"What is that, Sky?" Akame questioned, studying the blade.

"This is the sword that delivered the finishing blow to Loputon Voima, the name of the Ancient Steel Golem that's blood was used to create my Teigu." Skyrah revealed, feeling her heart rate increase as she reached a clearing in the thick, snowy woods. "It belonged to Loputon Voima's first owner."

Akame was shocked. "That thing is over a thousand years old…" She adjusted her scarf, soon it would be winter again, but up in the country they were currently in it was always cold.

They had passed through many different climates, lush jungles and barren deserts, but none of them bothered Akame more than the cold, she was beyond tired of it. It had been a brutal ten months for all of them, almost every country they passed through was preparing for war and was almost hostile to anyone passing through. The Western world was serious about taking control of the East, and from what they had seen, nobody had proper defense against their terrifying forces.

All three of them had trained themselves extensively in the past ten months, they had all broken through limits they never thought they had the physical strength to do in the past. Each one of them had reached new heights with the moral support they provided for one another. Many times they grew frustrated, but they pulled through together. They had created synchronized attacks, building their teamwork and friendship at the same time, Skyrah led the group with unwavering tenacity and enthusiasm, doing her best to keep everyone happy.

Within the past few days, Skyrah hadn't spoken as much and her overwhelming joy that had always been there faded and she grew serious and cautious of the world around her. She stopped every once in awhile, changing her direction without warning.

Now she had stopped in this snowy clearing, staring forward at a stone platform in the middle of it. On the horizon, past another huge forest of trees was a giant mountain with snow rolling down the sides.

"This is it." Skyrah spoke slowly and calmly. "Both of you stay here."

Skyrah didn't wait for an answer, she simply began walking towards the stone in the clearing.

When she stood on top of it, Akame and Rin watched from a distance as she studied it.

The circular platform had ancient texts written in circles, spiraling into the center where a small whole fell to an unknown depth. Skyrah had been told what to do in this moment, she took the broken sword and held out her hand, poking the shattered blade into the tip of her index finger, drawing blood that ran down what remained of the edge of the blade.

Skyrah dropped the sword, watching as it fell into the deep hole, falling out of her vision within seconds. This moment in her life could decide her future, and whether or not she lived or died.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Rin was confused, and almost tried to call out to Skyrah until the ground began to rumble and shake.

It felt like the beginning to an earthquake. The entire world around them shook with such intensity that it was toppling over trees and breaking apart the mountain on the horizon, sending giant boulders hurtling down the mountain.

"They never killed Loputon Voima, they trapped it." Skyrah muttered as she returned to where her friends were standing, watching the mountain fall apart with them. Skyrah saw a form inside of the sky-piercing mountain, crushing the rock around it and pulling itself to the surface. " _That,_ made my Teigu."

Akame felt fear rise in her heart as the ancient golem released a bone-rattling roar. It didn't look too much unlike the giant Danger Beast her and Kurome had fought years before. But unlike that Danger Beast, this one seemed to literally be made of rock and iron, and towered over both Shikoutazer and that monster.

"You plan on fighting that thing?" Rin asked, unbelievably.

"No." Skyrah shook her head and gave big grin, catching the attention of both her friends. "I plan on killing it."

Skyrah began a run forward, much to the dismay of her friends, who tried to call for her to come back. Just as she reached a good angle, she planted her foot and shot upwards like a bullet, rearing back her fist as she fired towards it.

The golem swung up it's huge arm, blasting wind through the air right at Skyrah.

She tensed up, feeling the wind stop her in mid-air, trying to push straight through. When the wind increased even further, she looked left, launching herself in a zigzag formation that had her going right back up at Loputon Voima's head.

Akame was amazed. "That's incredible! It's like she's flying!"

Rin was focusing as hard as she could on Skyrah's movement, she dodged the golem's giant arm again, bursting through the air to the right this time.

Skyrah landed on the golem's shoulder, running up towards it's neck that twisted slowly, getting a look at her. As Skyrah reared back, Loputon Voima used the arm on the other side of it's body and smacked downwards at Skyrah, trying to swat her like an annoying bug.

Right before it made contact with it's own shoulder, Skyrah slammed her fist into the huge hand, making three of it's fingers blow apart, launching the debris into the air and making it rain down into the forest below.

Without hesitation, Skyrah became a blur in the golem's vision, slamming her fist into it's face this time and breaking off some of it's cheek.

"T-that's impossible." Rin's pupils were the size of pinpricks as she realized what Skyrah was doing. "How is she…?"

Akame was horribly confused. "What? What is she doing?" She asked.

Rin tried to think of a way to describe it. "You know how Skyrah can break apart the ground when she releases more of her power, and gives off a pressure?" She gulped hard. "She's using that, every time she needs to move she releases some of her energy, giving her a boost forward and instantly holding it back again."

"What?!" Akame watched Skyrah move, and sure enough, Rin was right. "She's been holding back this whole time?"

How was that even possible? Her strength was incredible as it was, and the whole time she hadn't even been giving it 100 percent? Just how strong was she?

"She's not even using half of her power, this whole time she hasn't." Rin examined, her eyes still wide with amazement as Skyrah took on a monstrous golem that dwarfed anything she had ever seen. Alone.

Skyrah jumped out in front of the beast and got swatted downwards. Rocks and trees blasted from the earth that had a giant hand swat it. Skyrah was among the debris, rising up with all of them, her blood streaming down the side of her head.

"There!" Rin shouted. "She's using more of her power!"

Skyrah blasted from rock to tree, bouncing off of the debris and getting far into the sky before jumping off of the highest bit and diving right down towards the golem. Akame could feel Skyrah's strength increase from the ground, she wondered what it must have felt like to be next to her.

Both girls watched in awe as Skyrah somehow fought the gigantic monster, breaking it apart piece by piece. As the debris struck the ground, they created clouds of dust and dirt that ripped apart the forest, something that Skyrah had become aware of quickly.

The Danger Beast was furious of the overwhelming strength of it's tiny adversary, it reared back both of it's arms, slamming them into the ground below and annihilating the landscape underneath, making the ground shake so violently it threw the spectators in the air like ragdolls.

Skyrah didn't seem the least bit bothered as she sprung to and from pieces of debris, watching the destruction. Her face was strangely calm, something she rarely was during a fight of such proportions.

She left behind afterimages as she moved, the golem had become even more confused than before. It released a roar that drowned out any noise in the forest or the sky for miles. Skyrah winced from the pain that assaulted her ears.

Without any warning, the golem reached out, grabbing Skyrah like a bug and squeezing it's hand together.

"Skyrah!" Akame screamed in horror as the golem crushed her girlfriend.

Without any warning, Akame burst through the sky, slashing Murasame six times in rapid succession, making the golem freeze in it's place. As she landed, she sheathed her sword and looked back, watching the hand blow apart, shattering into a million pieces. Skyrah looked a little surprised, but smiled and gave a thumbs up to Akame.

Akame was even more surprised than her girlfriend, Skyrah hadn't even been scratched by that death grip, or the least bit worried about it.

When the golem swung it's arm again, Skyrah maneuvered around it and landed on the top of it's forearm, running up her arm, flipping her body forwards to kick and punch it's arm, breaking off more of it's body. As she reached it's head again, she used all of her gathered momentum and slammed both of her fists into the side of it's head, obliterating half of the giant boulder-like head.

Skyrah felt a little disappointed, she expected the Danger Beast to put up more of a fight, even if it was technically wounded. Was a thousand years not long enough for Loputon Voima to regain some of it's strength?

Another punch to what was left of the chin destroyed the rest of the head in an instant. It's arms fell limp at the golem's sides, breaking more of it's body off. Skyrah jumped up, using her falling speed and flipping forwards multiple times, slamming her heel into the middle of where Loputon Voima's head should have been.

A jagged crack split the golem right down the center, not yet breaking it, but coming extremely close. Skyrah jumped up again, repeating the same move as before. The crack widened and the golem was off balance, coming dangerously close to falling but still staying up somehow.

Skyrah looked frustrated, she fell to her knees and reared back her fist, giving her strongest punch right at the beginning of the crack, finally making the great creature break apart and come crumbling to the earth, destroying even more of the snowy woods around them.

Rin watched as the monster that she thought was impossible to defeat just minutes before fell apart, crumbling like an old stone wall and creating a storm of dust that blew through the land.

When the smoke cleared, Skyrah stood a few feet in front of Rin, her hands up in a defense

Something else had emerged from the rubble Loputon Voima had created.

"It's been awhile since I had to use this form." The figure said.

Rin and Skyrah finally got a good look at who had come from the destroyed Danger Beast. It was a pitch black suit of medieval armor, glowing a dark orange from the inside out. A vertical crack in the front of the helmet showed no human body underneath. This was still Loputon Voima.

Skyrah took a deep breath, getting into a fighting position.

"They took my blood and gave it to you…" The armor pointed a sharp, claw-like metal finger at Skyrah. "Now I'll take it back."

Without warning, the armor leaned it's whole body back and rushed forward, grabbing right at Skyrah's face.

The assassin tried to dodge, but it's hand already had wrapped around her head and began to spin her around, throwing her in the opposite direction and watching as she bounced across the ground.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Loputon Voima asked with a menacing tone.

Skyrah was laying face down in the dirt, unmoving as Loputon Voima turned around to face Rin.

Rin held out both of her hands. "Back off!" A huge blast of fire shot out of her hands, engulfing the suit of armor.

With just one swipe of his claws, he completely expelled her flames and began a slow walk towards her.

"You think I can feel heat?" It asked, it had a darkly masculine voice that shook her to the core. "This armor is stronger than diamond. Those puny flames can't do a thing to me."

Rin had never seen something hold up so well against her flames, let alone completely extinguish them with just a swipe.

She tried to send a quick fireball hurling at the suit of armor, but it leaned to the side, dodging it.

A flash of white made Rin flinch. Skyrah was right in front of her, holding back Loputon Voima's fist with her hand. The punch had meant to hit Rin, but Skyrah had arrived just in time.

Akame rushed over to the battle, grabbing the shocked Rin and moving her out of the way.

"Come on." Skyrah growled. "Impress me."

Loputon Voima reared back it's fist and punched right at Skyrah's face, but she caught that punch too.

"How…?" It pushed as hard as it could, but Skyrah pushed back, meeting it's full strength for the first time. "A puny human like you…"

"I don't think you understand much about humans." Skyrah finally spoke to it.

"I am a God in this world!" Loputon Voima shouted. "You are nothi-!"

Skyrah pushed against the armor's right hand, breaking it off of the arm and smashing her clenched fist into it's helmet, denting it like tin.

"And what of it?!" Skyrah went ballistic, firing forward and putting her arm through Loputon Voima's chest plate and out of it's back. "I don't care who I have to face! Humans, Gods, whatever!" Skyrah ripped her arm out and gripped Loputon Voima by it's shoulder. "The difference between you and us is we'll do whatever it takes to win! You rely on big words to boost that ego of yours, we rely on our comrades to help us defeat anything stupid enough to challenge us!"

Loputon Voima felt it's arm be ripped of it's body by the shoulder and watched it be thrown aside.

"We'll win!" Skyrah pounded the armor into the ground. "We'll push through any challenge! War, invasion, even wrath of some so-called God!" Her fists were gushing her own blood as the metal of Loputon Voima's armor scraped and broke underneath her powerful strikes.

When Skyrah stopped, the almost scrapped armor stared up into the sky, watching birds fly overhead. It couldn't understand humans. This was the second time it had been defeated. Both times had been by two completely different people, whom he had viewed from the beginning as weaklings. They were split apart by more than a thousand years, but they were so very similar it was scary to him.

"You're just like him…" Loputon Voima muttered.

Skyrah turned back, a furious look still on her face. "You're still alive?!"

Loputon Voima's mind was scattering, it could only focus on two events in it's life.

"Your heart is in the same place as his." Loputon Voima remembered the first human to ever defeat it. "Take… This."

A goblet appeared by the hole he lay in, filled with black blood.

Skyrah walked over to the Danger Beast, staring down at it with a fire in her eyes.

"The… Other half." It muttered, turning it's head to the blood.

Skyrah's eyes widened. She only had half of Loputon Voima's blood?

"Some puny human like you putting me down… It's disgraceful…" It seemed to chuckle. "I don't want to live anymore… So take all of it."

Skyrah picked up the goblet in both of her hands.

"Skyrah! Be careful with that!" Akame was confused how Skyrah was so trusting of the thing that was trying to kill her just a minute before.

"Drinking this will kill you forever. Am I right?" Skyrah questioned.

The Danger Beast nodded. "All of my power will be transferred to you."

Skyrah remembered the hell she had gone through drinking the other half of the blood. It had made her sick for weeks as her body adjusted to it's power. Did she really want to go through with that again?

"No way." Skyrah said, shocking Loputon Voima. "I worked this hard to become this strong, so there's no way I'm just accepting some hand-out." She crossed her arms and began to walk away.

"Drink it!" Loputon Voima was up, using it's shoulder and tackling Skyrah before grabbing the goblet and spilling the blood into her mouth that he had pried open. "I refuse to live!"

The blood was thick and tasted rotten, but as all of it was poured into her mouth, and Loputon Voima's hand fell over her mouth, she had no choice but to swallow. It felt like fire was trailing down her throat, burning her insides. She choked and tried to puke the vile liquid entering her body and reacting inside of her.

"Skyrah!" Rin shouted, rushing over to her.

The suit of armor kicked to the side, catching Rin right in the center of her chest and downing her.

A sound of wind and the ring of metal on metal made Skyrah noticed the cut across Loputon Voima's arm.

As it tried to pull away from Skyrah, Akame kicked it in the side of it's stomach, finally splitting the already severed arm. She jumped atop the Danger Beast and began slashing as fast as she could without any resistance. The armor was cut to ribbons within seconds, but Akame still blindly attacked her destroyed enemy.

Skyrah coughed and hacked, her vision blurred and she felt her mind going blank every few seconds. She was forgetting where she was, how she got there. The horrible taste in her mouth vanished from her senses. The sounds of metal being cut apart disappeared. All she could feel was fire rushing through her body.

It was such an intense burn, she could feel herself screaming, but couldn't hear or see anything. Her hands gripped the sides of her head, pulling at her hair in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the pain. Her nails were digging into the side of her head, almost hard enough to draw blood.

The earth moved around her, she could feel things changing within her. Her arms and legs felt like they were burning, but stopped at her shoulders and upper thigh. Right where her old arms had been severed.

Visions assaulted her brain. She saw Champ pointing and laughing at her, covered in blood from the classroom of children he had butchered. Their small bodies laid in pools of mixed blood, some were missing limbs and some had become completely unrecognizable from what he had done to them.

"Thought you were done with me, bitch?!" Champ mocked walking over to Skyrah and loosening his belt. "I'm in your fucking head. I'll never go away."

Skyrah tried to scream, but his fat hand covered her mouth in an instant, he got so close to her face she could smell his breath.

Suddenly everything around her vanished. She was back in the forest, standing alone in the middle of the night.

The snowy forest had been reduced to burning rubble. Trees had been broken and thrown across the landscape, not one thing hadn't been ravaged by fire.

She slowly looked to her feet, seeing two badly burned bodies below her.

Rin and Akame.

Rin's body was almost unrecognizable by all the burns, but she could tell by the scarring on her face. Akame had been stabbed with Murasame through her chest, piercing her heart.

Skyrah screamed in horror. What was this sick game her mind was playing on her?

When she tried to turn around, the scenery changed once again. She was in the Capital, standing across from Esdeath within an ice dome. Esdeath had an evil grin splitting across her face and her eyes pierced into Skyrah's soul.

"My precious daughter…" She said with a giggle that echoed in Skyrah's mind.

Another rip in the world she was in led her to a dark alley, facing a dark facade of a young girl in the distance, barely illuminated by the light behind her. Skyrah squinted her eyes, making the other girl stop in her place.

"Sissy…?"

Mia's voice struck Skyrah immediately, making a great sadness and fear overtake her body.

Skyrah faced a glaring Mia, the bones in her neck were twisted and broken, prodding out of the side of her throat.

"You did this."

Skyrah grabbed the sides of her head, looking down into the ground and dropping to her knees.

"No! Get out of my head!" Skyrah was furious. What she was seeing wasn't real, she knew that deep down.

Skyrah could feel something around her arms and legs, something familiar. She could taste metal in her mouth.

Akame and Rin watched Skyrah rise to her feet, face covered in tears, facing the sky. She started shouting louder than anything they had ever heard, her voice alone shook what the golem had done, and then some.

The clothing around her four limbs burst into flames, completely incinerating within the blink of an eye, revealing two metal arms and two metal legs. They were different than the originals, they were on top of her skin, which you could still see through some of the attached pieces of the grey metal. The ground cracked and floated upwards, defying gravity around her as an almost transparent white aura surrounded her body.

Skyrah's strength was destroying everything around them. Her eyes were locked to the sky above, as if she was determined to destroy even the sky above.

Skyrah suddenly stopped shouting, and the pressure around her dissipated. She almost looked like she was underwater, the way her body fell to the ground was slow, her strength completely faded from the world around them and she finally blacked out, leaving Akame and Rin alone in a destroyed frozen forest.

\- _**2 Weeks Later**_ -

Akame walked with Skyrah on her back, and Rin in tow, making their way South. Skyrah had been deathly ill since she had fought Loputon Voima and absorbed it's strength, regaining her metal arms and legs. Both of them were just as confused as the other, Akame had to explain to Rin about how Skyrah had met them with metal limbs, but eventually regained her human ones. Now, she was back with them.

"Akame… when will she wake up?" Rin asked, dragging her feet behind Akame.

Akame grit her teeth. She knew Skyrah was alive, but didn't know what she needed to do to help her. The little she had talked to her since the fight Skyrah had simply told her she had to wait it out, but the girl was miserable for days at a time, she refused to eat or drink almost everything. She had gotten so bad Akame had to literally force-feed her when she had started to lose weight.

She hadn't gotten any heavier from the metal, which seemed to be incredibly light, so Akame had little to no problem with carrying her for long periods of time. They had to get back to base as soon as they could, they only had a little over a month to get back. It had taken them almost the entire trip to find Loputon Voima, but now they knew the exact route home.

Eventually Akame had to lay Skyrah down for the night, stripping her down to a bare minimum amount of clothes, her body was extremely feverish, but she begged to stay covered up by her clothes. Akame refused to let this fever grow any worse, and potentially harm Skyrah.

As the sun slowly descended in the sky, Akame used the remaining light they had and watched Skyrah, clad only in her bra and panties. She was breathing heavily and rapidly, and tensing up her body every few minutes, releasing a pained whine each time that pulled at Akame's heart.

"Is she going to be alright?" Rin asked, sitting beside Skyrah and pulling the ill assassin's long, white hair away from her face.

Akame hesitated, looking over Skyrah's body again. She slowly raised her hand and pointed to a scar in the middle of Skyrah's stomach.

"Do you see this scar?" Akame questioned, receiving a confused expression from Rin. "Skyrah was stabbed all the way through her body by my younger sister when they had a confrontation."

Rin clearly saw the X shaped scar, but Akame hadn't answered her question.

"And this one?" Akame pointed to a smaller on on Skyrah's right shoulder. "This was when she fought Mia for the first time, someone she considered to be her little sister."

"Akame…"

"How about this one?" Akame pointed to another patch of scars and half-healed burned skin on the right side of her body. "She fought a monster of a human, a clown who attacked children, he used explosive attacks, this was from a piece of concrete that lodged into her side" She said with anger in her voice.

"What do you mean by this?" Rin asked.

"I mean she has survived worse!" Akame shouted, waking Skyrah. "Of course she'll be alright, don't even think she won't! She promised me!"

"I'm not going to die, I have people to come back to." Skyrah repeated. She remembered when Akame had kissed her forehead to check her fever not long after they had met. She had to keep that promise. "With those people backing me up, I'll never die."

She raised her fist in the air, grinning and clenching her teeth.

"See?" Akame felt tears in her eyes as she calmed down, she held Skyrah's hand with Rin.

They didn't have long to get back to the group, soon the war would begin. It was a final sprint to the finish.


	24. Chapter 24: Kill The Gladiator

**Chapter 24**

 **Kill The Gladiator**

 **2 Hours until the War…**

Najenda saw the mass amounts of soldiers on the horizon, surrounding the Capital. Wave upon wave of hostile soldiers would be attacking shortly. Her small army of rebels and Imperial Guards combined to make a defensive force to keep back any intruders. This was going to be a bloodbath whether or not she wanted it to be, every one of these people had a reason to fight, whether it was allegiance to Esdeath or Najenda, to protect their families, or simply to get in on a war, they all had one thing on their minds.

Fight.

Fight to kill, fight to survive, fight to thrive.

It had been a grueling year for all of them, Tatsumi, Mine, Wave, and Kurome all split from the group after Skyrah, Rin, and Akame left. All six of them had left to train for this very battle, and all six of them had yet to return.

Esdeath assumed the worst, that they had abandoned them and left them for dead. Najenda knew better though, they would be here soon. They had to be.

Tension was thick throughout the entire Capital city, civilians had packed into their houses, awaiting further notice from their guardians. Leone, Rhys, Esdeath, Run, and Fox were all they had to defend an entire Capital city, as well as a number of soldiers that paled in comparison to the force of Devil's Core.

Even they were tense, regardless of how strong they had gotten over the past year. They knew they were still at a large deficit in comparison to the six fighters in Devil's Core.

Someone was approaching the city slowly, equipped with large golden armor that made his already giant body seem even larger. His muscled body threatened to burst through the heavy armor, like he was constantly flexing.

"All of us will meet him." Najenda said. "It's one of them."

Following her orders, they all moved to the edge of the town, passing through their soldiers and meeting the huge man. He grinned at their approach, like he had gotten exactly what he had wanted.

"State your business." Najenda said immediately, crossing her arms.

"I just came to look at the scenery, nice town you got here." He laughed, looking around. "Ava wanted to see what we'd have to ourselves later today."

Esdeath spat. "You sound sure of yourself." She narrowed her eyes at the perfectly calm man.

"Against you people?" He laughed, mocking all of the fighters there. "Of course I'm sure, you won't last an hour. Seems like you lost quite a few members as well."

"They haven't arrived, they'll be here." Najenda growled, gripping her fists.

The man laughed hysterically. "Will they now?" He slapped his knee, and suddenly gave an evil glare to the leader of Night Raid. "What if I just attack you right now, play it off like you started it after I butcher all of you at once?"

Najenda's body grew tense, anger flooded into her veins.

"Probably a bad idea, pal." A voice drew the attention to the roof of a building to their right side, where Skyrah sat with her legs dangling over the edge, looking much different than they had last seen her.

Skyrah's brown hair had returned to her and lost most of it's length, most of it was braided, resting in front of her left shoulder, the other side of her hair was long and windswept, allowing her bangs to cover a little of her face. A dark blue skin-tight tank top held her chest in place and led down to a thick, white sash belt and high-waisted white shorts that cuffed at the end. Tight brown boots hugged her leg until just under her knee. Her metal limbs had returned to her body, shocking all the allies below them.

All other members of Night Raid and the Jaeger's stepped up behind her, glaring down onto the enemy. Each one of them had changed in various ways, but none as drastic as Skyrah.

Akame's hair had been cut only a little shorter, and been pulled back into a ponytail that left her bangs in the front of her head. Her once black overcoat had been replaced with a white one with a red Night Raid insignia on the back of it.

Tatsumi's hair had been cut short in the sides, but left long on top, he had clearly bulked up in the past year, the black t-shirt he wore hugged his muscles tightly.

Mine had lost her pink dress and replaced it with a pink top with a skirt-like end to it, leading into black leggings that hugged her skin. Her hair was longer than everyone else's, her ponytails had been freed and her bangs had been cut. Pumpkin was securely placed in her arms.

Wave had kept his original outfit, him and Tatsumi had become close partners in the past year and became stronger together, building a close bond.

Skyrah and Esdeath locked eyes, while Esdeath stared with adoration, Skyrah glared with a burning anger. Both of them silently nodded to each other.

"My, my, my." The man clapped his hands together. "What an introduction! Bravo!" He chuckled happily as the two groups became one.

"Speaking of introductions, who even are you?" Rin asked.

The man stopped laughing and cracked one eye open, grinning wide.

"My name is Caesar, one of the six elite members known across the world as Devil's Core." He announced, not shaking any of the reunited members, who stood stronger than ever.

Leone noticed an two intense powers coming from the group, they were itching to be released, but was currently being held back. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, both powers were exactly equal, and would make Shikoutazer shake in it's armor.

Whoever that power was coming from, they would be the turning point in this upcoming battle.

"Leave now." Esdeath said with a smile as she turned her back to her opponent. "We eagerly await your arrival."

Caesar's grin grew wider as the rest of the group left him there alone, like he was unimportant to any of them.

"I'll make all of you pay." He grumbled, gripping his necklace tightly. "This conquest will be the beginning to our plans to make this world ours."

Back in the center of the Capital, all members who had been gone caught up with their comrades, telling them of the adventures they had gone on and how much stronger they had gotten.

Esdeath and Najenda watched over this scene with smiles on their faces.

"We are not so different, you and I." Najenda said suddenly, watching all of the smiles on the faces of the young kids she had led to this war.

Esdeath raised an eyebrow and faced Najenda.

"We both care about them." Najenda finished, feeling a little bit of sadness in her heart.

Esdeath looked away and slowly nodded, making Najenda's smile widen.

Esdeath had her eyes on Skyrah, watching her from across the room, she smiled, laughed, and had conversations with members of both Night Raid and the Jaegers. Her grudges against the Jaegers had faded, but her hatred for Esdeath had clearly not.

"You felt it earlier, didn't you?" Esdeath didn't turn her head, but spoke to Najenda.

"She's gotten stronger." Najenda said, trying to measure Skyrah's power. "Much, much, stronger."

Esdeath grinned, Skyrah had taken this seriously, just as seriously as Esdeath had. The training she had endured in the past year had boosted her strength more than ever, she could annihilate anyone a year ago with her new strength.

"Caesar is still extremely powerful." Najenda harrumphed, clearing her throat. "It's going to take all of us together to defeat Devil's Core."

Four of the six Devil's Core members had shown themselves to Night Raid. Caesar, their brawn, Hendricks, the man with a cursed touch, Maya, a deceiving young girl that worked while hidden in plain sight to assassinate her targets silently, and Ava, the leader and strongest member of Devil's Core.

Skyrah saw Najenda speaking so happily to Esdeath, and broke off from her conversation with Mine and Tatsumi, she had been explaining her metal arms and hair to them. They were like a prize to her after she had absorbed the final half of Loputon Voima, her metal limbs were almost like bracers rather than her actual arm or leg though. She was able to take them off if she wanted, albeit with some difficulty.

As she approached the two leaders, they both faced her at the same time. Neither one had changed a bit, but Skyrah could tell they had gotten stronger.

"Yes, darling?" Esdeath cooed, much to Skyrah's dismay.

Skyrah bit her tongue, not risking giving any attitude to Esdeath just yet. In this battle they were allies, and she was in no way weak, the last thing they needed was another enemy.

"I wanted to say hey to you both before this all began." Skyrah chuckled, giving a big toothy grin. "It's nice to see you again."

"The same for you, Skyrah." Najenda said with a joyful smile. "You've certainly… Grown."

Both Esdeath and Najenda looked at the girl from head to toe, noticing al the changes. She hadn't grown at all in height, but her bust size had clearly increased, while not originally as large as Akame's but not as small as Mine's, she was now a little larger than Akame, but still leagues under Rin, Najenda, Leone, and Esdeath. Her face had a little horizontal scar that ran from under the edge of her right eye about halfway back to her ear, leaving showing up under her shorter hair on that side, but not being large enough to be noticeable unless up close.

The changes to her outfit and hair had also taken them a bit off guard, she looked a bit like what she did when she first arrived in the Capital.

"You look beautiful, Skyrah." Esdeath's compliment made Skyrah blush a little. Esdeath quickly followed up though. "What level are you at?"

Skyrah laughed. "Who knows. Limit Break stopped working around six months ago." She said with a nervous laughter.

Esdeath and Najenda were shocked.

"What do you mean it stopped working?!" Najenda cried. "How can it just stop?"

"I dunno, it just stopped one day during training." Skyrah said. "It just stopped making me any stronger, all it does now is just waste my energy."

"Are you sure?" Najenda asked in a panic, sure Skyrah was strong like she was, but if that was the extent of her strength, she was in trouble. "Are you at your full power right now?"

Skyrah smirked. She crossed her arms and turned around, looking past the castle walls and watching a woman lead a large battalion of soldiers. She could tell who it was, even from this far away. Ava had arrived.

Six unique energy levels surrounded the Capital. Akame, Rin, and Skyrah had learned how to read other people's strength level from an old religious man during their travels, they had practiced on themselves and animals the whole trip, becoming quite skilled with the ability.

Skyrah grinned wide, cracking her knuckles. This was going to be the fight of her life, and she was more excited than she ever had been. She had gone a full year without one good fight, only sparring and training. This upcoming event made adrenaline shoot through her veins.

"This is it, they're going to attack." Najenda said, facing the group beneath them. "Everyone! Listen up!"

Every fighter there, Night Raid or Jaeger, looked up to Najenda with the same looks of determination in their eyes.

Najenda had prepared a speech to boost morale, but they already had decided as a group they would be victorious, she could see written all of the faces of her comrades, new and old.

"I don't need to say a thing." She smiled, tears forming in her eyes. She raised a fist, and watched all the others do the same. "Win."

All of them erupted in a cheer that echoed through the Capital, eventually reaching the ears of the six that were preparing their attack.

"Levi, crush them." Ava muttered.

A young boy in a shirt a few sizes too large for him stepped forward, raising his arms.

"Curse activate." He said slowly, his golden eyes seemed to zoom into the middle of the Capital city. A yellow aura surrounded him and he took a deep breath. "Rolling Thunder."

A bolt of lightning burst down upon the center of the Capital, annihilating the castle completely and completely astonishing Night Raid.

"Everyone! Get to a defensive position!" Najenda ordered. "Esdeath, cover the city!"

"As you wish." Esdeath raised her hand and an icy dome quickly enveloped the city.

Levi smirked on the outskirts of the city. "Oh, I can play that way too." He made an X motion in the air with his left hand. "Cut."

A slash of lightning burst from in front of him, ripping across the side of the dome and slicing a giant hole in the side of it, cracking the rest.

"How…?" Esdeath grit her teeth, nobody had ever made such easy work of a dome like that.

Skyrah was off like a bullet, running full speed through the streets.

"Let her go, we need to split up." Najenda said as Akame tried to go after her. "You two are some of our strongest fighters, it doesn't make any sense for you to go together."

Akame was a bit upset Skyrah had taken off without her, but knew Najenda was right, so she quickly nodded.

"Fox, go after Skyrah and assist her." Najenda started.

"Me?!" Fox was resilient, Skyrah and her hadn't exactly kissed and made up yet, so why was Najenda putting them together.

"If you want to live, then I expect you to do as I say!" Najenda shouted in sudden anger that made Fox jump. Esdeath nodded and Fox took off after Skyrah.

"Tatsumi and Mine, Wave and Kurome, Run and Akame, Rhys and Esdeath, Leone and Rin." Najenda finished, pointing to the ensuing battle. "You are all paired, get out there and defend this city, this is all we have left!"

The pairs were set, and all of them nodded at once, spreading out amongst the city and leaving behind only Najenda along with a few of their best soldiers.

"Good luck. All of you." She whispered.

\- _Skyrah & Fox-_

Fox eventually caught up to Skyrah, who stood atop a bell tower, watching one of the dome's walls be breached by the man in the huge golden armor. Fox was afraid, all of her instincts told her to retreat, she wasn't only unsure in her own strength, she doubted how much Skyrah viewed her as a comrade and if she could work together with the younger girl.

The sudden clash of metal on metal made Fox flinch, when she finally came back to reality, a speartip was less than an inch from her face. It had been launched from Caesar and had penetrated the wall easily, but Skyrah had caught it just in time.

"Pay attention, Fox." Skyrah mumbled, still watching Caesar intently. "We don't know what these people can do."

Fox gulped and nodded, trying to give herself some confidence.

"We'll deal with the soldiers as they pour in, focus on them before we attack Caesar." Skyrah commanded.

Fox felt humiliated, she wasn't going to listen to this cocky assassin any longer.

"No thanks!" Fox leaped off of the building, landing softly on the ground just as the wall was breached. "Just watch and learn, little girl!"

Fox was agile enough to zig-zag her way through the group of around a dozen soldiers, reaching Caesar and going in to strike him with her sharp claws.

Caesar's fist was already lifted, he dropped it down right on top of Fox and smashed her into the concrete below, imprinting her body into the now destroyed rock.

Caesar grinned wide and looked up, meeting a metal fist almost instantly, owned by a pair of brilliant green eyes that flashed by him, grabbing Fox and hitting him in the side of the head before he could even react.

Not a single enemy had ever caught him off guard like that, she was incredibly fast. Yet unlike most agile enemies, she packed one hell of a punch.

Half of his guards had collapsed in pain, gripping various parts of their body. The other half were shocked and confused, trying to aid their fallen comrades.

Caesar's grin reappeared as he laid eyes on the girl, holding her already injured partner.

"Fight smart." Skyrah demanded, blocking a huge piece of concrete thrown by Caesar by flipping forwards and embedding it back in the ground before turning back to face Fox one more time. "Or run."

Fox gasped, and Skyrah charged forward, sweeping the legs of a guard out from under him and kicking him towards Caesar, who clubbed him out of the way with his giant arm.

Skyrah got into a battle stance, waiting for her enemy to make a move.

"Oh… Grandmaster Wu's stance." Caesar released a heart chuckle. "An honorable man, I expect a lot from you, warrior."

Skyrah's eyebrows tilted down and she glared at Caesar. "How do you know Grandmaster Wu?" Both her and Mia had trained under him during their time in England, he was one of the reasons Skyrah had become so powerful.

"When I traveled to England a few years back, I trained with him and some of his students." He laughed, his eyes were soft and kind, opposite of Skyrah's. "One of the few I remembered the most was a girl with _unbreakable_ metal arms and legs, and her younger companion."

Skyrah's eyes widened, she remembered exactly who this man was now. His blonde hair was now much shorter, and he had grown a thick, bushy beard.

"You…" He had been kicked out of the temple after going way too far in a sparring match against Skyrah. He had humiliated her in front of everyone, his strength exceeded everyone's there by a long shot. He had beaten, choked, and almost killed Skyrah, then desperately tried to bend or break her arm off before being torn off by Wu and Mia. "... You're that psychopath that tried to kill me." Her face contorted in anger, but she held her ground.

"I agree, I went a little far." He laughed. "But you were supposed to be his strongest disciple, I guess it shows they don't make 'em here like they do in my country." The huge man scratched his beard while he laughed.

Skyrah couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was obviously taunting her, but now he was insulting her country and being racist? She refused to let her anger take control of her, but she was becoming more agitated the more he talked.

" _Think you can put your money where your mouth is?"_ Skyrah asked in English, impressing Caesar even more.

" _Look at you, that's quite impressive English for a foreigner!"_ He called back, putting up his fists. "I don't think I'll have a problem here, it'll be just like last time... But now I am going to kill you."

The world grew silent. Not even the wind didn't dare interrupt the two fighters as they locked in on each other, readying themselves for anything. Skyrah's green eyes reflected his blue. A single drop of sweat dropped off of one of the guards, just as it impacted the ground, an explosion of power threw the guards and Fox to the side.

Without warning the two fighters had fired off, meeting each other halfway and closing the distance within the blink of an eye, both right fists of the fighters met with incredible force. It was like a bomb detonated where they had collided, they had ripped apart the ground and buildings within a ten meter radius.

Both followed up with their left fists, annihilating more of the scenery as those collided in the same way.

Skyrah flipped backwards, kicking Caesar under his chin, but he quickly fired back, grabbing her and throwing her at the side of a building. She flipped again in the air and reduced her momentum, landing sideways on the building and using it as a launchpad, throwing herself back at Caesar and ramming it into the side of his head.

Caesar skidded back, still staying upright. He looked to his right and dodged Skyrah's next attack, punching her in the body and following up with a powerful elbow to the back of her head, knocking her aside.

Skyrah sprung back up and masterfully kicked behind her, parrying an incoming fist and using her momentum to spin her back around, sending her fist right into the core of his armor, trying to damage it, but to no avail.

She jumped back, smiling brightly at her enemy, who returned her enthusiasm. "What even is that armor?" Skyrah asked curiously.

Caesar harrumphed. "This is my Curse, I'm sure Hendricks told you what they were." He said.

"A rough idea." Skyrah grinned, her confidence was through the roof, and this was the first time she showed it. "It been awhile since I had a fight like this, why don't we just go all out?"

Caesar laughed loudly, and Skyrah joined in with him, Fox and the guards were in awe at the friendly nature both fighters showed to each other.

"No offense, but I don't think Wu's training prepared you for that." Caesar pointed to his armor. "You don't want to see this."

Skyrah cracked her knuckles. "No offense, but I think you're a bit overrated." Skyrah said with a humored expression on her face.

"Oh?" Caesar was genuinely curious.

"You walk around with people revering you like gods, I think it's gone to your head." Skyrah said, tilting her neck and popping it. "You shouldn't be so confident in your power, you're just one man."

Caesar looked offended by that remark. "How about I do show you then?" He frowned, gripping his fists. "I'll show you the true power of a god."

Caesar's armor slowly darkened in color, the material used to craft it expanded up his neck, tightly cladding it and creating a helmet in the shape of a skull. Eventually it had become a pulsating red color that glowed from the inside out.

Skyrah smiled. Now this was going to be a challenge.

"I am a God among mortals." Caesar said in a distorted voice. His eyes glowed red from underneath his armor. "I'll show you how to bow, then I'll take your head."

"Let's dance." Skyrah smiled, awaiting an attack.

Without warning, the man was rushing Skyrah, she just narrowly dodged, but had been knocked off balance by his speed, she rotated her body, trying to find him with her eyes. She eventually found him right behind her, standing up.

The much larger man put both of his fists together and slammed them down onto Skyrah's back, crushing her underneath the incredible force. He reared his fists back and pounded her into the dirt, punching her much smaller body over and over again with his powerful punches, trying to crush her like a bug.

Fox stared in horror as Skyrah was battered like a doll. Is this how powerful Devil's Core was? Did they even stand a chance?

Eventually the man stopped and reached down for Skyrah, picking her up by her hair and making her face him, holding her above the ground. Blood ran out of the side of her mouth and from somewhere on her scalp. She winced in pain from the stinging of being held up by her hair.

"You are still weak, little girl." Is what came from Caesar's dark, evil voice. "I'm going to crush this pretty little head of yours."

Skyrah opened her eyes, smiling at him.

An incredible pressure burst through the already destroyed battlefield. Fox watched from the sidelines, seeing the source being Skyrah. Her power was raising incredibly fast, making both her and Caesar freeze in shock.

She punched Caesar's wrist, obliterating that part of his armor, along with his hand and a little of his arm underneath.

Skyrah was free from his grasp now, she dropped onto the ground and immediately punched forward into his stomach, destroying his transformed armor around his abs and breaking some of his ribs as her hand dug into his muscular body.

Skyrah flipped forward, putting her heel into the top of his head, shattering his new helmet and knocking him face-first into the ground.

"I-impossible…" Caesar shook in fear, trying to breathe after he had gotten the wind knocked out of him. "How d-did you…?"

Skyrah crouched down, smiling at her adversary and making fear rush through his brain. "I'm not the same little girl, big guy."

Caesar tried to grab at her, but she grabbed his wrist, bending it around his back until she heard the bone snap and him cry out in pain. She then slammed her fist into his armor that covered his back, breaking that apart and watching it go back to it's original golden color.

Skyrah grit her teeth and aimed one more punch to the back of his neck, breaking his neck and making him fall silent.

Fox watched Skyrah stand up in victory, her power still creating pressure. She was incredibly strong, possibly even stronger than Esdeath. But was she enough to defeat the rest of Devil's Core?

The once enemy of Skyrah walked out to her, putting her clawed hand on her shoulder. "Well done, I thought you were gonna bite the bullet there for a second." She chuckled lightly. "I didn't think we'd all have to go all out on these guys."

It was Skyrah's turn to laugh. "All out?" Skyrah she asked. "This guy isn't gonna make me go that far, the fight wouldn't even be interesting."

Fox was confused. "What do you mean?" She asked. "What was that power up?"

Skyrah scratched the back of her head. "Well, I guess if I was talking in Loputon Voima's terms, I powered up to about 50%" she laughed.

Fox's jaw dropped. That was only 50% of Skyrah's normal strength? How was that even possible? How was she stupid enough to hold back any of her strength in a fight like this?

Both Fox and Skyrah were interrupted by an explosion across town. Skyrah could feel two huge powers facing off, slowly getting closer to them.

This battle was just the beginning of the war, and now it was continuing elsewhere. Skyrah wanted nothing more than to continue her fight, but she would have to find another enemy to battle that wasn't already taken. The last thing she wanted was to be fighting a bunch of soldiers while her friends got to do the exciting part without her.

Fox once again had to chase Skyrah through the Capital, looking for another fight.


	25. Chapter 25: Kill The Touch

**Chapter 25**

 **Kill The Touch**

Tatsumi and Mine had quickly met up with Wave and Kurome during the start of the battle, grouping up to better their chances if they happened to run into an enemy. They patrolled the streets, checking in with soldiers on the front lines, who had seen as little as they had of the fighting.

It seemed like everyone was in a different place than they were. They had felt the rumbles through the city as other powerful fighters clashed, they didn't know who was fighting, so all they could do was pray their friends came out alive.

The people they were battling were some of the strongest in their country, and said to be all more powerful than the strongest fighter on the continent they had now invaded.

Many soldiers had already lost their lives fighting against these incredible forces, so it was Night Raid and the Jaeger's job to make sure they didn't die in vain.

Tatsumi stopped in his tracks as they came across a small army of their own soldiers, all incapacitated or killed, scattered across the ground that was soaked with blood. In the center was one man. The man that had already caused them enough pain.

"It's about time someone showed up, I was getting bored." Said a yawning Hendricks, who rose from the ground where he was sitting and faced his four enemies. "Four on one, I say those are pretty unfair odds."

"We're not trying to be fair here, buddy." Mine scolded him like a child, which made him smile like a maniac.

"I meant it was unfair for you." His face twisted into a psychotic grin. "Look around."

His face reminded Mine of Seryu, which made her immediately raise her weapon and start firing a rapid hailstorm of bullets directed at him.

The man was incredibly agile, but did take a few shots as he closed the distance between him and the others. Right as he was in range to reach out and grab Mine, Kurome slashed her sword, just barely missing him as he leaped back.

"Any day now boys." Mine said, her weapon hissing as it cooled down from the volley of bullets.

"Right." Tatsumi and Wave spoke in unison.

" **INCURSIO!"**

" **GRAND CHARIOT!"**

Both of them appeared in their armor before the two girls. They powered up to their maximum level, readying themselves for anything.

"Interesting, that's some pretty light armor." Hendricks smiled, dashing in again and tapping both Tatsumi and Wave in their stomachs. "Throw."

Incredible pain shot through both of their bodies at that exact point, blowing them backwards into a church behind them.

"Tatsumi!" Mine cried, only dropping her focus for a moment.

Hendricks was in front of her again, striking forward and hitting her in the throat with the side of his hand. "Cut."

It was like an invisible knife that slashed across the side of Mine's neck, making blood immediately pour out of her new wound. It wasn't a fatal cut, but it was close enough to make Mine immediately focus back up, trying desperately to forget about the pain in her neck. She swung Pumpkin as fast as she could, smacking it across Hendricks' face, knocking him backwards.

Kurome stabbed towards Hendricks, barely cutting his arm before he dodged her in mid-air. He spun while upside down and slapped her on the wrist like a child, mumbling something.

When he landed, he looked back at Kurome with a smile.

"What the hell did you do?" Kurome looked down to her left arm, where a green hue was beginning to crawl up her arm from the inside.

"Poisoned you." He laughed, pointing to her chest. "In a few minutes it will reach your heart, killing you in the most painful way possible. Sorry, sweetheart, but I'm not going to lose to a bunch of two-bit soldiers."

Kurome's eyes narrowed and an incredible fury overtook her. He wasn't going to get rid of her that easily, that wasn't how she was going to die.

Kurome tore off half of her shirt, tying it around her upper arm as tightly as it would go, cutting off all circulation to that area, with the other half of her shirt, she bit down onto it as hard as she could, making pain shoot through her jaw.

Hendricks seemed amused, almost excited at what the girl was doing. Just trying to blind herself of the pain and slowing down the poison wouldn't stop her inevitable death.

She turned her sword on herself, her eyes burning bright at her enemy as she swung it fast, slicing through flesh. Her own flesh.

Hendricks was in shock from the girl's grit and tenacity.

Her arm dropped to the ground, falling lifeless as it fell from her now cured body. The poison was gone now, but she had to be careful to not be touched again, she couldn't lose any more body parts.

Mine was just as impressed at Kurome's showing of power. But now she was down an arm, and they were already at a disadvantage as it was.

"Impressive, but how is that going to help you?" He asked with a smile. "You may have gotten rid of the poison, but who says I just don't do it again, this time to your head?"

Kurome grit her teeth, feeling a little bit of blood drip out of her open wound. She had to ignore it. "I won't let you touch me."

"Say what you will…" Hendricks dashed towards Kurome, even faster than the last time, catching her off guard once again.

Just as he was about to make contact, Wave appeared above him, smashing his fist into the blonde man's back, crushing him into the ground below. Tatsumi was next, he kicked him from his grounded position, throwing him into the sky, where Wave once again attacked, throwing him right at the ground.

Tatsumi caught him before he impacted the ground, punching him right in his ribs and hearing more than a couple of them break. Hendricks grabbed Tatsumi by his helmet and started to speak.

"Force!" He shouted.

A white light appeared from his hands as a burst of pressure exploded down onto Tatsumi, ripping apart pieces of his armor and imbedding him deep into the ground. Half of Tatsumi's helmet was gone and parts of his chest piece were chipped or cracked.

"Tatsumi!" Wave fired down at Hendricks, but was met with a hand grabbing onto his face.

Hendricks had a hold of both Tatsumi and Wave now, each by the face with one hand.

"Forc-"

A beam of light blasted right at him, completely enveloping him in the blast of energy and interrupting his attack.

Mine stood stationary as her three teammates looked back at her, giving her a nod of thanks.

She fired again, hitting Hendricks as he was thrown back from the first attack, making his body scrape across the ground as he was pushed across the battlefield.

His clothes and hair sizzled and burned from Pumpkin's energy blasts. He stood up, brushing himself off and letting his now broken left arm hang down limp at his side.

"Maybe I underestimate you four just a little bit." He chuckled, putting his right arm to the ground and looking back up to the four fighters with an angry face. "Explode!"

The ground underneath them erupted like a volcano, bursting out from under them and throwing all of them into the air.

Hendricks put his hand in the air while they were readying themselves for a landing. "Tornado!"

The wind sped up, spinning incredibly fast in just a few seconds. All four fighters were sucked into the whirlwind, being battered by various debris inside of the vortex.

Hendricks jumped forward and put only his hand in the twister, his eyes narrowing. "Heat!"

The tornado burst into flames, igniting the four warriors that were already struggling to get out of it. They all cried out in pain, feeling the flames slide across their skin and burn them.

Wave and Tatsumi grabbed ahold of each other, their armor was protecting from the flames, but wouldn't continue to do so. They worked up a momentum and threw each other outwards, appearing outside of the tornado.

Tatsumi rushed to his feet just as he landed, immediately attacking Hendricks and throwing him aside, making the flaming twister disappear and drop the two girls inside of it, who fell limply to the ground, burned from the flames and bruised from the flying debris.

Mine had been completely knocked out cold, but Kurome just barely got to her feet, clinging to Wave for support.

Tatsumi rushed over to Mine, picking her and her Teigu up, rushing them to safety. Mine had tears running down her face, the left side of her hair had been burned up to her shoulder, the once gorgeous pink was now stained with black tips and streaks. Her left side had been badly burned from her abdomen all the way down her leg to her knee, her flesh was bright red in some places, and already blackened in others.

Her young lover clenched his teeth, feeling rage course through his body. He had no idea if she was going to be okay after a burn like that, but he did know she was out of the battle for now. Kurome had lost her arm, which the wound had been burned shut in the flames, stopping any bleeding but making her cry out in agony.

Tatsumi burst into a home, coming face to face with a terrified family. He dropped her off to the husband, who took her with confusion and fear in his eyes. Tatsumi turned around to leave, but stopped right before he left through the open door.

He turned back, watching the fear-filled eyes of the husband, who stood strong in front of his wife and two children, a boy and a girl. That was what Tatsumi wanted some day with Mine, and he'd be damned if someone was going to take that away from him.

"Keep all of them safe, this will be over soon." Tatsumi said with a hopeful grin.

The little boy's terrified face turned into a hopeful gaze as Tatsumi left the building, leaving Pumpkin behind by the door.

Wave and Hendricks were battling it out in the street, trading blow after blow. Tatsumi had spent enough time with Wave to know how he felt about Kurome, he was in the same position as Tatsumi was. They were both fighting for the person they loved.

"Wave, let's do it!" Tatsumi shouted, they had been saving this for last, and it was about time they finished this battle.

"Right!" Wave punched Hendricks in the face one last time and jumped back, landing right next to Tatsumi.

"Ready?" Tatsumi faced Wave.

"Ready." Wave followed suit, staring right at Tatsumi.

The two fighters took each other's hands, locking their hands together.

This technique would take immense focus, but if they could pull it off, they could win this fight.

" **Teigu: Plus!"** Both Wave and Tatsumi shouted at once, making an incredible explosion rock the entire Capital city. Wind blasted through city streets, throwing over some soldiers and civilians, even threatening to blow over smaller homes.

Hendricks watched as both Tatsumi and Wave shined in a brilliant white light, it was so bright it threatened to blind anyone who watched for too long. Their forms seemed to mesh together, mixing with the blinding light.

Eventually both the wind and light faded, and what remained was Tatsumi in a new, pristine suit of armor.

"Teigu Plus: _Grand Chariot + Incursio_." Tatsumi said, gripping both of his fists.

The armor took abilities and looks from both Teigu, mixing them together to create an unbeatable warrior.

Wave harrumphed, the few times they had practiced the ability had shown them that it seemed to randomly select who was going to use the ability, and now in the heart of battle Tatsumi was going to use it.

"Fancy, but it won't save any of you." Hendricks shot towards Tatsumi, rearing his fist back and knowing he was on target as he closed the distance.

Tatsumi vanished and appeared almost instantly in front of him, driving his knee into the Devil's Core member's face and then picking him up by his hair, slamming him down face-first into the ground and destroying the rock underneath them with his body.

Without wasting any time, Tatsumi fazed behind Hendricks as he stood and punched him right in the back of his head, launching the bastard forward and skipping his limp body across the ground.

"H-how?!" Hendricks was in a panic as he desperately swung at Tatsumi, trying to get in a single hit to do any kind of damage to him.

The evolved assassin had no problem dodging the brash attacks and eventually used an attack of his own, flattening Hendricks with the powerful straight punch.

Tatsumi leaped upwards, gaining all his momentum as he fell and smashing his fist with all of his power into Hendricks' body, decimating the ground with just the force of his one punch. The enemy underneath him fell limp and his eyes grew dull as Tatsumi rose to his feet, stepping off of him and staring down at his fresh corpse.

"Tatsum-"

Wave was interrupted by Tatsumi releasing a furious shout and kicking his leg as hard as he possibly could, throwing the already dead fighter into the air. He let out heavy breaths, adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

"Teigu Plus… Release." Both Tatsumi and Wave's armor returned to their rightful owners, and Tasumi fell to his knees, his body weak from the pressure of using the two Teigu at once.

He slowly rose to his feet, his Teigu deactivating as he limped over to the home he had placed Mine in.

Wave made no attempt to stop him, he slowly made his way over to Kurome, who was still conscious, giving a satisfied grin to Wave.

As Tatsumi entered the house, his heart stopped.

Mine watched him with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, but she did not react to him opening the door. Her eyes were dull, and her body didn't respond to anything. She was already gone.

The husband looked panicked, but had tears in his eyes too. The mother had hidden her crying children in the corner of the room, covering their eyes from Mine's lifeless body.

Tatsumi had tears in his eyes as he dropped to his knees and crawled across the room, sobbing in pain from his broken heart. He took Mine from the man and cradled her in his arms, holding her close and embracing her body, shaking from his fear of losing his special someone.

His tears fell onto her face, mixing into her own tears as they ran down her face. Tatsumi screamed in agony, this was the one person he promised to protect, that he told he would right by her side.

"Mine!" Tatsumi sobbed, his tears streaming down his face and making him choke up. "Mine, don't die, you can't!"

The family cried along with him, either from fear or sadness, he didn't know.

"We were going to see the world together, we were going to get married!" He screamed down at her. "I have the ring right here, I was going to purpose after this stupid war was over…" Tatsumi pulled a diamond ring from his pocket, holding up Mine's hand and putting it inside, squeezing it for her.

Mine didn't move a muscle.

"You can't die!" Tatsumi yelled at the top of his lungs, making both Wave and Kurome rush inside, stopping in horror at the scene before them. "I can't live without you!"

Tatsumi embraced her once more, squeezing her tightly and hoping for any sign of life.

A light squeeze on his shoulder made his heart skip a beat.

"I-I'll remember t-that…" Mine choked out, coughing lightly. "You weren't ever the romantic type, I'm impressed, babe."

Tatsumi smiled through his tears of what was now overwhelming joy. Mine had come back to him, and he was going to do whatever it took to get that way.

"We need to take a moment to rest, but then we have to get back out there." Kurome said, trying to ignore her missing limb, but not being able to escape the incredible pain that pulsated through her body as she tried to wiggle fingers that weren't there anymore.

"I don't think we can take another battle like that." Wave cracked his knuckles, noticing how bloody and scraped up they had become.

"We can together." Tatsumi said, looking down at Mine with hopeful eyes. "I know it."


	26. Chapter 26: Kill The Ally

**Chapter 26**

 **Kill The Ally**

Esdeath walked past the outskirts of town, watching the beautiful flowers blow in the wind. Rhys followed close behind, wondering exactly what she was doing, the battle was happening within the city not this far out. She had been walking for at least an hour, leading both of them out of town.

After a few more minutes of walking, Rhys stopped, crossing his arms. He activated his Teigu that was on his forehead, reading Esdeath's body movements.

"What's the big idea here, Esdeath?!" Rhys shouted at the woman in front of him. "Where the hell are we even going?"

Esdeath turned around, smiling at Rhys.

She reached into her pouch that had been slung over her shoulder, pulling out a device that was very familiar to Rhys.

"Do you recognize this, Rhys?" She asked sweetly.

His eyes narrowed. Of course he recognized the device, he was the man who invented it. How had Esdeath gotten her hands on it?

The device was meant for people that couldn't part with their Teigu, people like Esdeath or Rin who had it embedded in their body. It would analyze their body and strip them of their Teigu, allowing them to live a normal life while still keeping the Teigu intact for another user. It was still in a prototype phase, it could only be used twice, then it would never work again.

"Where did you get that?" He asked.

"After we came across Cobalt Roar's old base of operations in the past year, I found it locked up in an armory, it was the only thing really left intact, everything else had been destroyed over time." She chuckled innocently. "Nature works in mysterious ways." Her eyes flicked over to Rhys, staring at him with a menacing look in her eyes.

"What are you planning?" Rhys asked, crossing his arms and frowning.

Esdeath smirked, holding up her ice arm, as if to showcase it. "How strong do you think this arm is, realistically?" She asked, changing the subject.

Rhys raised an eyebrow. "Not too strong from what I've heard, Skyrah didn't have much trouble breaking it with her-" His eyes widened in realization, he knew what Esdeath was going to do. "You plan on taking Loputon Voima."

Esdeath clapped her hands together like a child. "Precisely." She giggled. "And I need as little resistance as possible."

The ice arm she had shot forward, growing in size and impaling Rhys through his chest. His eyes were wide and his mouth was agape, but he said nothing, and didn't move an inch.

"That includes getting rid of you." Esdeath grinned, lifting Rhys up and throwing him aside like he was trash.

Rhys stared up into the sky, the yellow and orange flowers next to him slowly danced in the delicate wind, some were splattered with crimson blood, Rhys' blood. His body wouldn't do a thing his mind commanded him to do. He could feel the breeze tickling his insides from the gaping hole in his chest that went clean out of his back.

Skyrah's face flashed through his mind, thoughts of her smile and her almost always happy face floated through his shutting down brain. Although he would have never admitted it, he knew deep down he had fallen in love with her since the first time they spoke, even though she thought nothing of him. Many times he had looked exclusively under her clothes with his Teigu, just out of curiosity of what she was or wasn't wearing that day. These final thoughts allowed him to smile, and finally fade away.

"Pig." Esdeath ripped the Teigu off of the Rhys' forehead, smiling down at her work. "You picked the wrong side."

Without remorse, Esdeath walked back the way they had come, his blood splashed upon her white clothing. She felt like herself again. It had been awhile since she had killed, and soon she would be an unstoppable killing machine.

She was going to take Loputon Voima from Skyrah, and kill everyone else in her path, then take her daughter overseas. To a new place where they could be happy together.

"Wait for me, Skyrah." Esdeath whispered, holding her hand to her heart.

Upon reaching the Capital again, she found herself watching an immense battle between two groups of soldiers. Blood was spilled, and bodies collapsed every few seconds. Esdeath was ecstatic, so much death and pain was unfolding before her, she could hardly contain herself. She raised her ice hand and from it came a blistering cold wind that cut through the middle of the battle, killing Night Raid, Jaeger and Devil's Core soldiers alike. They were frozen in place, then burst apart like glass, scattering under their comrades' feet.

A young boy stood atop a nearby building, glaring down at Esdeath. She could sense his power, but had yet to even acknowledge his presence, like she didn't care he was even there.

"You will die for interrupting them." Levi said, letting himself fall off of the building, then proceeding to float downwards, suspended by an unseen force. He landed right in front of a grinning Esdeath.

He knew already this enemy was different from the others, whatever she wanted was different from the others. Her heart was slow and calm, unshaken by the war around her. It was as if she had been there before.

"Woman of ice…" He spoke slowly, his calm demeanor not fading. "Why do you not fear the things happening around you?" He asked.

Esdeath's eyes lit up in excitement. "This is where I belong. On the battlefield." She said, leaning her head back, like she was taking it all in. "The blood, the screams, the agony from the helpless and dying souls. This is my one true desire."

"Oh?" Levi smiled, even though he had only met this woman moments before, he felt he could get some use from her. "Why don't you join us then?" He outstretched his arm, offering a hand to her.

Esdeath raised an eyebrow.

"Devil's Core is going to make this world our own, nothing will ever stop us." He said. "This puny country isn't even able to protect most of their land, let alone fight us."

Esdeath's smile turned to a frown. "Have you done your research?" Esdeath asked, crossing her arms. "This country has been in a civil war for years now."

Levi nodded. "Yes, I know that, only recently have you teamed up with your enemies to fight us." He said. "A fight you will inevitably lose."

"I'm guessing you can't read your allies power, huh?" Esdeath laughed. "Two of your comrades are already dead."

Levi broke out in laughter. "You think I'm stupid or something?" Levi's voice grew dark and angry. "A bluff like that won't work on me, Esdeath."

"Say what you will, either way I'm going to kill you for getting in my way." Esdeath stomped her foot, freezing the ground underneath them instantaneously.

Thousands of shards of ice shot up at Levi from underneath him. He lifted off the ground and flew around, desperately dodging the volley of sharp ice daggers. Three embedded into his left thigh, pinning his shirt to his skin, where blood was quickly gushing from the three stab wounds. He made his way over to Esdeath, blasting a beam of electricity from his palm at her, which she ducked under, using her ice arm to uppercut the flying boy right in his stomach, grounding him and knocking the wind out of him.

Levi slid across the ice, staining it with blood. As he got to his feet, he ripped out the three daggers in his thigh, wincing at the pain.

"I can already tell." Esdeath chuckled. "You're used to fighting on the sidelines, not in direct combat, am I right?"

Levi's eyes widened, confirming Esdeath's suspicion. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

Esdeath walked forward, her heels clicking against the ice underneath her. She pulled her arm upwards, making a giant fist rise out of of the ice beside Levi and punch him aside, launching him through a large building and into the crowd of fighting soldiers, who all stopped as he was thrown through them.

Devil's Core members looked confused and astounded that Levi was taking such a beating.

"Keep fighting!" Esdeath yelled as she came bursting through the same building she had sent Levi through, she swiped her arm and all of the hundreds of soldiers their became frozen in a shell of ice, that quickly shattered like glass only seconds afterwards. Levi was wide-eyed and terrified of Esdeath, he had never fought someone like this before.

"W-what are you?" Levi questioned.

A huge ball of ice appeared in the sky above, created by Esdeath. It descended quickly, threatening to crush anyone underneath. Esdeath backed away as much as she needed to, but Levi stood up and put both of his hands to the sky, like he was going to catch it.

"Ultimatum Bolt!" He yelled, sending an incredible beam of charged electricity straight at the meteor sized ball of ice, blowing it apart and sending the pieces of it across town, destroying buildings and homes.

Levi stood in a crater he had created from the recoil of his blast, heaving for air.

"We both had to use our strongest attacks, but still couldn't kill each other." He laughed in a kind of triumph.

Esdeath broke out laughing. "Strongest attack?" She threw her head back in laughter, and raised her arm up to the sky, making another sphere of ice, double the size of the last. "You make me laugh, weakling."

This village-sized sphere took even less time to descend as the last one, and crushed everything under it, including Levi. His power vanished right as it impacted, killing him instantly.

Esdeath was sure now, nothing was going to get in her way, especially not these pathetic members of Devil's Core.

Leone and Rin watched from a distance as Esdeath second attack impacted the city below, annihilating houses just from the rumbling it sent through the Capital.

"She's going overboard." Rin said.

"I'm sure Najenda knows that, she'll be punished for it, but there's nothing we can do right now." Leone explained, continuing on beside Rin.

The pair of them were trying to find their place to help, but still hadn't seen much fighting. The little fighting they had gotten into was against only waves of soldiers, which they made easy work of. Somehow they still hadn't run into a single Devil's Core member, which was the plan from the very beginning.

After a few more minutes of walking, Rin stopped, looking around. The world around had grown silent, they could only hear the wind now. Not even the soldiers battling made noise anymore.

"Maybe it's over?" Rin thought aloud. "I can't hear any more fighting."

Leone smiled a let out a sigh. "I was really looking forward to a fight, but I'm not complaining if we already won." She giggled after her sentence, she was relieved.

"Agreed." Rin said with a nod. "I wish I could have used a little bit of my strength though, I did all that training and didn't even get to show Skyrah."

"I'm sure Skyrah knows how strong you are, Rin." Leone said, putting her hands behind her head. "We can go find her and you can show her yourself."

"I don't think you'll like what you find."

A voice echoed in the sky, it was very feminine and smooth. It made both Leone and Rin look around in confusion, trying to find it's source. The voice felt like it was coming from inside of their heads, rather than the sky above.

Rin spun around and laid her eyes on a young girl. She had auburn hair and blue eyes, and was dressed in a skimpy outfit that showed off the curves of her body. Her short skirt blew to the side in the wind.

"You're Maya, right?" Both Rin and the girl said in unison. She matched Skyrah's description of Maya, one of the members of Devil's Core. "What do you mean 'I won't like what I find'?" Rin asked.

"She's long gone." Maya said slowly and menacingly.

"Liar, she's our strongest." Rin said with confidence in her voice. Skyrah couldn't possibly have died.

Rin noticed that Leone was gone, but tried not to think about it, she could take this girl alone.

"Spirit Flame: Phoenix." Rin said, feeling her body light up in flames.

Maya smirked. "Lady Ava told me about that ability, it changes depending on the user." She said, further describing Rin's Teigu. "It has three different variants: _Salamander_ , a variant that increases the user's defensive power. _Phoenix_ ,the variant the gives the user incredible speed. And finally _Dragon_ , which allows the user to harness the strength of a Fire Dragon, the strongest of the three." Maya explained, shocking Rin.

"How can you possibly know that?" Rin grit her teeth, getting ready to attack.

"Lady Ava has a Curse much like that, but she would be completely invulnerable to your weak flames." Maya laughed, rushing Rin.

Rin met her and they both exchanged blows, Maya was smiling as she got punched and kicked over and over again by flaming fists and legs. Her attacks were strong, but Rin dodged around most of them with her superior speed.

"You are weak in the head, attacking so powerfully." Maya laughed as she was slugged in the face. "You really want to kill me, huh?"

Rin didn't even answer, that was obvious. It looked like she was going to at this rate, Rin wasn't even being hit anymore, it was like Maya didn't even want to attack, just mock her with a smile. It annoyed and angered Rin, who's flames grew brighter and hotter as she continued her barrage of attacks onto the defenseless Maya.

Was this how strong she had gotten? Was Devil's Core not even as powerful as they were hyped up to be after her training?

Rin grinned wide and reared back, making all of her flames go to her fist before unleashing a powerful punch right in the center of Maya's chest, launching her off of her feet and making her dig up the ground as she scraped across it from the force of Rin's punch.

"I'll end you right now!" Rin jumped up and threw her arms forward, sending a ball of flames from her palms that impacted Maya's unmoving body and detonating in a fiery explosion.

When Rin landed, she slowly made her way over to the crater she had just created. Smoke from her attack was thick, but it cleared after a few seconds, revealing who she had just attacked.

Leone laid unmoving in the crater, her skin burned all over and her hair almost completely gone, each strand ended with a burned black tip. Her leg was unrecognizable from how badly it had been burned, and her fists were black from burns as well.

Rin was in shock, had she been fighting Leone the whole time? That was impossible! Maya had just been there, mocking her with that smile.

Maya broke out in laughter from a roof above where the fight had just gone on. Her legs were swinging over like a child's, and she was holding her stomach as she pointed and laughed at Rin and Leone.

"Wha- What?!" Rin was terrified of what she had done, she moved her eyes from Maya back down to Leone and rushed down to her, picking her up, making Leone open her eyes.

"R-Rin… Why?" Leone gripped Rin's shirt collar with her last bit of strength, glaring at her with angered golden eyes. "What… have you done?" She growled.

Rin had tears flowing down her face. "I'm sorry Leone!" She wailed. "I didn't know! I wouldn't do this to you!"

Leone tried to push away from Rin, but cried out in pain, making Rin feel even worse than she already did. "Skyrah… Help me…"

Rin was kicked in the side of the head suddenly, making her drop Leone and go flying across the street and through a glass window into a small diner. Glass stabbed through various parts of her body, one of the larger shards had gone all the way through the side of her stomach area.

She was leaned against a wooden counter with her head hanging in shame, she had done that to Leone, so she didn't care what happened to her.

Maya jumped into the diner and kicked Rin's head like a football, sending her through the oak counter and through the back of the store, making her find herself back on the road. She laid face down now, staring at the cobblestone the road was built with, she could feel her own blood running down her face and getting caught in her hair.

"What have I done?" She asked herself.

A foot came crashing down onto her spine, crushing her into the ground and breaking some of her ribs as she was crushed into the stone.

"Look at you, where'd all that spunk go?" Maya mocked her. "My little illusion really got you, didn't it? I was wondering which one of you were stronger, I didn't want to waste my time on some weakling."

Maya picked up Rin by her hair, who wasn't even attempting to fight back. "I guess I'd react like that too after I killed my friend." Maya laughed, spinning Rin around and throwing her through the side of a new building, making chunks of the outer rock wall find its way into her skin.

Rin couldn't even feel the pain anymore through her own mental state, she had already given up before the fight started. In her head, she didn't deserve her Teigu. She didn't even deserve to live.

Without warning, Maya grabbed Rin's face, squeezing hard. Rin was lifted off of the ground to Maya's eye-level, while Maya locked her eyes to her opponent's, Rin stared off into the distance.

Somebody was standing atop a building, holding Leone in their shining metal arms.

Skyrah was watching Rin be brutally beaten with an unconscious Leone in her arms, she had found her moments before in a pile of rubble, close to passing out, mumbling something about Rin and being betrayed. Skyrah knew Rin wouldn't betray them, they had grown too close over the past year. Something else was going on here.

"Rin, fight!" Skyrah shouted, her voice reaching Rin's ears, making her brain click on.

Rin saw the girl in front of her, her one true enemy in that moment.

Fire built up on Rin's fists. She was furious, this girl had made her attack her own teammate, and was mocking her because of it.

"Get out of my way!" Rin shouted in anger, spinning her arms and sending a blast of flames forwards at the girl before her, throwing her back and lighting her minimal clothing on fire.

"What the hell?" Maya questioned. "What is that power?!"

Rin's eyes seemed to glow red as she stumbled towards the girl, dragging her feet until she got right next to her.

"The same one you made me attack my friend with."

Rin pushed her hand forward, grabbing Maya by the neck and creating two separate flames under her feet, making her fly up with Maya in her hand. Rin fired her free fist like a piston into Maya's face, knocking out teeth and bruising her face as she continued to pound her. Rin had flown above the clouds now, making the oxygen lesser and lesser by the moment. Her flames still burned bright. Just as the world under her disappeared from sight, she stopped ascending and glared at the twitching girl she was still choking.

"Don't get up." Rin murmured as she released her grip on Maya's neck.

As Maya fell, Rin burst downwards, using her flames to increase her falling speed. She reared back her fist as she neared Maya's falling body and smashed her fist down onto her face, speeding up her fall to the ground and crushing her into the earth as they impacted, killing Maya instantly.

Rin's arm was broken and she had been impaled multiple times by glass and rock, plus that fall hadn't helped her case at all. She laid on her back, facing the sky and watching the smoke overhead. She could hear the sound of battle around her again, a battle she had just taken part in.

As she rose, a great anger overtook her entire being.

"Dammit!" She shouted, throwing her good arm into the side of a building, splitting it right down the center and making it fall apart.

Her flames grew brighter as she attacked the landscape around her, the ground, shops, homes, nothing was safe against her fit of rage. Civilians who lived in the now destroyed homes ran through the streets away from the person who was supposed to be protecting them.

"Quit it!"

Skyrah's fist slashed like a talon across Rin's face, throwing her off of her feet and onto the ground. The assassin's metal arm steamed from the heat she had just come into contact with, she had a scornful look on her face and her eyes were dark with fury.

Rin burst to her feet, swinging her flaming fist at Skyrah and catching her unsuspecting ally across her face, trying to burn her.

Skyrah pushed back against Rin's smoldering hot fist, punching the older girl right in the center of her face, knocking her right back down to the ground.

"You wanna do this right now, Rin?" Skyrah glared at her recovering teammate, who glared back with equal ferocity. "Fine!"

Rin made her whole body catch ablaze with flames and charged Skyrah, leaping forward to try and tackle her.

Skyrah swung her fist in a downwards curve, slamming it down onto the top of Rin's head and smashing her face into the ground. She kicked her in the side so she rolled over and stomped on her chest, threatening to break her bones. Skyrah, with the same menacing look in her eyes, leaned down to where Rin could hear her.

"Leone is gone."

Rin's eyes lit up and her mouth was agape. Her flames went out all at once as she stared helplessly into Skyrah's angry and hurt eyes. She realized just what she was doing, and what it must have taken from Skyrah to fight her after knowing that.

"I-"

"Just get up." Skyrah pulled her up to her feet, holding her up by slinging her good arm over her shoulder. "We can't lose ourselves like that. Not this time." Skyrah said.

Rin saw tears in Skyrah's eyes, they didn't fall, but her pain was still out for show. Her heart was in more pain than it had ever been. They had both just lost Leone, and Rin was about to fight Skyrah, with real intention of hurting her.

Was this what such power had done to her? Did she even deserve to own such a strong ability?

"Only two remain." Skyrah said, the tears now wiped away. "The strongest members of Devil's Core."

"What can we do?" Rin asked.

"You aren't doing anything, I don't want to lose anyone else." Skyrah answered calmly. "Akame is closing in on one of them. So I'll go and assist her." She said, looking forward with determination in her eyes.

"Just put me down over-"

"I'll meet up with the others and leave you with them." Skyrah cut her off again, refusing to leave her alone. "I told you nobody else is dying."

Rin nodded, she watched Skyrah closely as they walked. She could see pain in her eyes, but past that was a fire unlike anything she had ever seen, she was mentally and physically prepared for this final battle.


	27. Chapter 27: Kill The Swordsman

**Chapter 27**

 **Kill The Swordsman**

Akame and Run were patient, they fought alongside Najenda and Esdeath's soldiers, trying to bait out a member of Devil's Core. Hundreds of enemy soldiers and only a couple dozen of allied fighters fell throughout the battle. Night would be falling soon, and stress would soon be taking a toll on everyone who had been fighting, the soldiers would need rest, but Akame and the rest of Night Raid, Devil's Core, and the Jaegers would not.

The battle had started late in the morning, they had all been fighting for hours. Eventually they would have to stop, but Akame was determined to fight Devil's Core until they retreated, or all fell.

Devil's Core soldiers began to surrender and retreat in panic of the well-trained soldiers on Night Raid's side. It seemed despite the vast amount of soldiers the western continent had, not all of them were anywhere as trained as the eastern forces who fought back. Plus no powerhouses like Akame or Run traveled with the groups, something they had not planned for.

As the battlefield thinned out, Akame and Run were brought a few dozen soldiers that had surrendered to them, some of them were young and were filled with terror, others were older and looked ashamed of themselves. Only a few wore angry or hateful faces at their enemies.

"What should we do with these men?" One of the allied soldiers asked.

Akame stepped up in front of a man and leaned down to his level, taking his knife from a chest holster. He tried to lean back, but she caught him by the back of his head, keeping him close.

"Where is Ava?" Akame demanded, pressing the blade against his throat, drawing just a little blood.

He was hesitant, he felt his blood streaming down the side of his neck and soaking his over shirt. His eyes were panicked and filled with fear as he stared into crimson irises. He opened his mouth, taking a short breath before speaking.

A new dagger embedded itself into the side of his skull, and the sound of metal on metal made everyone seem to freeze in place.

A single, horizontal cut across all of the chests of the enemy soldiers before her caught Akame's eye, she jumped back, throwing the small knife aside and drawing Murasame from it's sheath.

The soldier's torsos slowly slid off of their lower body, a single clean cut had killed that many men, but had meant to miss her.

"Dear God." Run exclaimed upon seeing the gruesome scene before him. "What the hell did that?"

A man dressed in loose black clothing dropped into the pool of blood, wielding a giant katana in one of his hands. The handle itself was almost as long as his forearm, then the blade was almost three times the size of that, yet he handled it with ease and extreme precision.

"You…" The man's black eyes reminded Akame of Kurome's lifeless eyes. "Those traitors won't tell you a thing."

Akame gripped tightly on her sword. "Who are you?" She asked, slipping out of her white overcoat.

The man leaned back, inspecting his sword with his dark eyes. "Ace, of Devil's Core." He chuckled. "Ace, the man who will kill you."

"I wouldn't be so confident." Akame said, awaiting any movement.

"You shouldn't be so confident."

Run sent a feather blasting from one of his now outstretched wings. It shot out like a bullet, piercing Akame's skin on the back of her knee, allowing him to take flight and back away from the fight, much to Akame's shock and confusion.

Akame was knelt down, gritting her teeth from the sharp pain in her leg. Ace seemed to just be confused by what was going on.

"Run, what are you doing?!" Akame shouted up at him as he flew away.

"The day of reckoning has begun!" Run cheered. "Esdeath has a special plan for your little girlfriend, Akame!" He laughed hysterically as he flew off.

Akame ripped the feather from the back of her knee and stood up with pain shooting through her leg. She started to make chase, but Ace slid in front of her, stopping her and blocking her way with his body and blade.

"Move!" Akame slashed forward, knocking Ace of balance with the powerful slash. She went to follow up with a killer blow, but he regained his poise and knocked her attack away.

"I am your opponent, he does not concern me." He said, spinning his sword and holding it in a defensive position.

Akame grit her teeth. Run was up to something, but she had yet to find out what. If it really involved Skyrah like he said, she had to defeat Ace as fast as possible, then be ready to support Skyrah.

Just what had been schemed against them while they were gone? Who else was in on it?

These questions floated around in her mind as she tried to focus on her battle.

"Pay attention!" Ace rushed forward, pulling his blade to the side and slashing horizontally at Akame, who just barely dodged out of the way. "What kind of warrior are you?"

The sun was setting, it would soon be night and would be extremely difficult to fight someone in all black.

Akame stepped forward, feeling her confidence rise as she held Murasame at her side. She had to cut him one time, and that was it.

She slashed quickly, breaking his defense and ran forward, putting her shoulder into him and stopping him from swinging his sword. She stabbed forward, cutting right through his robes and stabbing all the way through his stomach.

She jerked the blade out of him and pushed him away, looking right into what should have been dead eyes.

"This is Murasame's poison? What a joke." He laughed, ripping off his shirt and revealing his pale upper body with a huge stab wound right in the center of his stomach. He was smiling as he looked down at the wound.

Akame was in shock, not once had anyone ever survived a cut like that from Murasame, it just wasn't possible.

"I should tell you my Curse." He licked his lips. "Pain Suppression." He said.

"Even without feeling any pain, that poison should kill you!" She shouted.

"Not me, I have been poisoned by far much worse things than that little sword. I won't fall to something like that." Ace said, tying his ripped shirt around his wound to stop the bleeding. "Come on, let's see what you've got."

Both fighters charged forwards, locking swords for a moment before splitting apart again, swinging and blocking and dodging each other's attacks until Ace spun and kicked Akame in her stomach and slashed his sword down at her.

She had blocked the full attack, but not before his blade had cut three or so inches into her thigh. Her blade was the only thing holding it back from taking off her whole right leg.

With all her might, she pushed back, throwing him off of her and creating distance between them before going in for another attack. This time she cut him across his temple, which he didn't even react to until blood got into his eye, which Akame used as an opening and attacked once again, slashing her sword and cutting across his right arm.

Ace kicked Akame under her chin and slashed with his sword, cutting a shallow gash right across her stomach and making her cry out in pain.

"You feel that?!" Ace laughed. "I'm going to spill your guts with my blade, little girl!"

Akame held one arm over her new wound, trying to stop the blood from gushing out of it. Ace attacked again and again with his huge and heavy sword, knocking Akame off balance as she blocked some attacks and took others to various parts of her body.

Her stomach, left thigh, left cheek, right shoulder, and right hip had been cut by Ace. She had done damage to him, but he hadn't even felt it because of his Curse. He acted like he was invincible, just taking some attacks he was too lazy to dodge.

The markings usually released by Murasame's poison only reached maybe and inch away from his wounds, not even affecting his body which, on any normal person, would be screaming in pain and agony from the poison.

Akame narrowed her eyes, feeling blood trail down her cheek. "What a surprise you've been, Ace." She laughed.

Ace chuckled. "I'm a bit disappointed, though." When Akame raised an eyebrow, he continued. "You aren't as great as I've heard, but a fight is a fight."

Akame frowned, raising her sword. "You aren't all that tough either." She said. "You call yourself Devil's Core, but all of you are a bunch of pushovers."

Ace vanished, appearing right behind Akame and stabbing his sword right through her back, making the blood soaked blade cascade from her stomach. His hand covered her mouth so she couldn't scream as he twisted the blade.

Her eyes were panicked as she tried to pull away, but Ace held her on the blade.

"Pushovers, huh?" He asked, feeling her teeth tighten on his fingers, even breaking one of them. "You are all a bunch of uneducated savages." He insulted.

Akame let go of his hand and kicked backwards, making the blade slide out of her. She collapsed to one knee, using Murasame to hold her upright.

"Don't underestimate us…" Akame gripped tightly on her sword and pulled herself up, spinning around and facing him again.

Ace vanished once again and Akame spun on one heel, slashing her sword behind her and slicing through his chest where he appeared.

He backed off for a moment and Akame charged forward, stabbing her blade right at his hand, piercing it for just a moment before tearing it out and doing the same to his other hand.

Ace dropped his sword. He looked down, confused. He couldn't feel any pain in his hand, and he wasn't even bleeding too much from it, yet his thumb had locked into an open position.

"An uneducated person wouldn't do that." Akame smirked.

Ace was furious. "What did you do, you bitch?"

Akame held out her hand and wiggled her thumb. "I cut your Adductor Pollicis." She said. "It's the little muscle in your hand that controls the thumb."

Ace charged forward in rage, using an open palm to strike Akame in the stomach, then under her chin as she was lifted off of the ground from the first strike. He followed up with a flurry of kicks, throwing Akame around with them.

Akame finally caught herself and got balanced again. He was still strong. She couldn't underestimate his attacks anymore, she had to end this battle right here.

Blood trailed down her face from the edge of her lips. The wind stopped blowing for a moment, and the sun finally disappeared under the horizon, making the world darken around them.

Akame slid her blade across her arm, feeling Murasame's poison enter her veins.

Her red eyes glowed in the dark, and the dark aura made her seem all the more ominous and evil.

A great pressure exploded around Akame as her power and energy went through the roof, rising to heights she had never felt before. It was incredible to her how much she had grown in the past year, how much everyone had grown.

She wouldn't stand to fall to this fighter. She couldn't bare the thought of dying here.

Ace was terrified as Akame charged forward, feinting her first attack, then her second, then her third. He pivoted around, trying to dodge attacks that weren't coming from the dark force. He struck out at Akame's form, putting his hand through her afterimage. She was just too fast to attack, he had to escape her, but it was like she was surrounding him alone.

Akame slashed down, cutting right down his spine, then flipped her blade in her palm and pushed into his spine, pulling up and carving him almost in half. She kicked him in the back just as her blade had reached the back of his neck, then charged forward, punching through his entire body, her arm finally stopping at her shoulder.

He was completely impaled through his back and out of his chest by Akame's arm.

"Die, bastard." Akame demanded, ripping her arm out of his body and watching him fall to his knees, still staying upright somehow.

A fury took ahold of her, even with him dead, she rushed forward and slashed in a frenzy, reducing his body to a red mist that hung in the air behind her. She had emerged victorious, but not without wounds of her own. Her whole body was screaming for her to stop fighting.

Murasame's influence had disappeared, but her skin was stained by its now dull pink markings.

Her heavy breathing and pounding heart drowned out all noise to her. She picked up her white coat and tore off the sleeves, tying them around her worst wounds and stopping her blood loss.

With her body threatening to give out on her, she stood up, looking off in the distance where Run had flown off to. The huge full moon had started to cast light down on the Earth, lighting up the world in a shimmering white light. Akame felt three powerful beings heading towards one another, she would have to get going fast to to meet them there. She grit her teeth and pressed on, leaving the wake of death behind her.

"I'm coming, Skyrah."

Skyrah and Fox laid Rin down carefully alongside Mine and Kurome, all injured by members of Devil's Core. None of them were doing any more fighting in this battle. Tatsumi and Wave tended to their female companions, Fox sat alone, deep in thought. Rin watched Skyrah and Najenda, who stood on top of a nearby building, serving as a lookout. Rin could tell by how their faces moved they were both talking, quietly enough so they couldn't hear.

"Three are wounded and four aren't here right now, that leaves us seven down." Skyrah said, looking down at her wounded comrades. Tatsumi gave her a nod. "If Ava gets here before Esdeath and Akame, I want you all to fall back, I'll take her on myself."

"That's suicide, Skyrah." Najenda said in a stern tone. "We aren't going to leave you." Skyrah looked over to her with a glare.

"You will." She commanded. "Like it or not, everyone here is wounded, even if they pretend like they aren't." She suddenly felt a breeze of cool air, which Najenda turned to.

"That won't have to happen, Esdeath and Run are here." She said with a relieved sigh.

The two jumped down from the building, standing in wait beside their comrades. Fox watched the scene unfold, her heart pounding in her chest. She knew what was about to happen.

She remembered how Skyrah had risked her life just to save her, even when she doubted them as comrades. Skyrah had done such a nice thing for her, and now Fox was going to allow this to happen to the one person who had treated her like a comrade? No, she couldn't allow that.

Najenda walked over to Esdeath, her guard completely down.

"No! Get away from her!" Fox shouted, seeing Esdeath raise her hand.

Esdeath's eyes were dull and remorseless as she slashed her arm like a sword, sending four jagged blades of ice through Najenda's body, decapitating and dismembering her in one swift movement.

Panicked faces followed Najenda's violent death. Even the wounded were terrified as their leader fell to the ground, eviscerated by Esdeath's ice ability.

Skyrah just looked dazed and confused as Esdeath created a thick box of ice around them, pulling a device from behind her and making a wire burst out of it, embedding into Skyrah's chest. Esdeath attached another wire on the opposite side of the device to her chest in the same place, then pressed a button on the devices ugh her ice finger as the confused Skyrah fell to her knees.

An intense electrical shock lit Skyrah up like a light. She screamed so loud it cracked the ice around her and could be heard from outside the thick ice walls, which her comrades were pounding on in a panic.

Run attacked Tatsumi, Wave, and Fox as they tried to break down the walls. They were forced to defend themselves and the wounded.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tatsumi shouted. "We're on the same side!"

"You should have never sent Esdeath with Rhys, you'll be joining him soon!" Run laughed maniacally.

Kurome and Wave were even shocked. Run had never acted like this before, he was usually the most calm of them all, but now it was like he had lost his mind.

Skyrah fell limp and her voice faltered as she was continuously shocked by the device. Her metal arms and legs had vanished. Her eyes were lifeless and her body just barely moved as she desperately tried to fight against the brutal shock that raced through her body.

Esdeath pressed the button again with not an ice finger, but a shining metal one. A marking had formed under her eye, which had changed to a pitch black color in her iris, just like when Skyrah had first entered Fury Release.

"H-how?!" Skyrah choked out as she just barely held herself up with her knees and arms, which were still shaking, even with the electricity gone now.

"This power belongs to me, Skyrah." Esdeath said with a grin as she felt Loputon Voima's power coursing through her body, she dropped the device at her feet and turned around. "I'll be back for you, we'll be leaving this country soon." Skyrah felt her strength give out, and she fell face-first into the dirt.

The box of ice collapsed and Esdeath stepped out, changed by Loputon Voima, much to the fear of everyone around her. Run, on the other hand, was ecstatic. This would be the end of Night Raid for good. Only him, Skyrah, and Esdeath would be leaving here alive.

"You look beautiful, Esdeath." Run complimented.

Esdeath turned to him with a smile, then sent a pillar of metal through his skull.

He fell like a sack of bricks.

Esdeath smiled, gripping her fists a few times, like she was feeling out her new abilities.

"Interesting." She said.

"Very."

A flash of light was followed up with a wave of flames, not from Rin, but from the leader of Devil's Core, Ava.

Esdeath's hair was burned up to her shoulders as she was struck in the back by the deep crimson flames. They were unlike Rin's normal flames, they were the flames of a true devil. Esdeath screamed in pain as her back was scalded and burned by the evil flames, throwing her forward onto her face.

She quickly got to her feet and spun around, sending two spikes from the ground, one of ice and the other of metal, right at Ava, who smiled and sent flames out of her hand, incinerating both elemental attacks with her blazing fire.

Rin shook a downed Skyrah, who gave no answer. Rin squeezed the device Esdeath had been holding in her fist.

"You'll hate me, but you're the best chance we've got." Rin plugged herself into the device with Skyrah, feeling the machine spark to life, she slowly rose her hand and pressed the button, feeling the electric shock pour into her body. "Skyrah! Get up!" She shouted in pain.

She could feel her strength being sapped from her body as the machine shook in her hands, something she had never noticed before was being torn out of her, and placed inside of Skyrah. Her body went limp and she held her eyes shut tight, trying her hardest just to stay conscious, everything was being taken from her, the thing that allowed her to kill Leone was completely flushed out of her body. Rin felt a bit of happiness as she was about to succumb to her lack of energy.

Skyrah's eyes opened, revealing each iris to be a flaming orange. Rin grinned and slipped out of consciousness, saying one last thing.

"Win." She said, putting her head down and shutting off the machine, which broke apart in her hands.

Skyrah rose from where she had collapsed, feeling a new, different strength flowing through her veins. Her eyes locked onto Ava and Esdeath, who had stopped their fight, now looking in shock at her body.

The tops of her arms had been covered in deep red scales, with the undersides being a cream colored set of smoother scales. Her fingers were tipped with sharp black claws that ugly stuck out a little under an inch. The rest of her body was untouched by the transformation except for her arms up to her shoulders.

Skyrah looked furious. An intense heat was coming from her body, making the cool night air steam as it touched her skin or scales.

"Spirit Fire: _Dragon_." Ava smirked as she watched in awe. "I never thought I'd be able to see it with my own eyes."

The strongest of the three variants of the Spirit Fire Teigu had now been revealed by Skyrah, who had drawn out the Teigu's dormant power.

"You'll be a worthy opponent." Ava complimented Skyrah, who could care less at that moment.

Skyrah's eyes focused on Esdeath, who stared back in fear.

"You die first." Said the human-dragon hybrid.


	28. Chapter 28: Kill Devil's Core

**Chapter 28**

 **Kill Devil's Core**

Skyrah had flames pouring out of the edges of her mouth, dripping down onto the ground like liquid, burning the ground under her. She had now idea Akame was watching her with a terrified look in her eyes from a building above.

Ava smirked. "I never thought it's power would be brought out by a little girl." She commented, seeing something snap in Skyrah's psyche.

Skyrah leaned her whole body back then pushed it forward, opening her mouth and making a blast of flames come pouring out of her mouth towards both Esdeath and Ava. Both were shocked by her technique and just barely moved out of the way of the cone of flames.

The attack carved right through a row of three huge buildings before stopping, making all three of them collapse at once.

Skyrah stopped her roar and made flames shoot out of her feet, propelling herself towards Esdeath, who sent pillars of ice and metal right at her. Skyrah slammed her open palms into both of the pillars, cracking them, then sent huge flames that disintegrated them instantaneously from her palms.

Esdeath charged forward, slashing at Skyrah's forearm with her rapier, which shattered upon making contact with the tough scales, that took no damage whatsoever.

"Come here!" Skyrah threw her arms forward and grabbed Esdeath by the sides of her head, throwing herself forwards and head butting the older woman, surprising and hurting her badly.

She grabbed Esdeath by her collar and pulled that hand towards the other, clapping them together and making Esdeath's entire body light up in flames that launched her like a ragdoll.

Ava watched in amusement, Esdeath was no good to her, if they wanted to fight, it would just make it easier for her to fight the winner.

Skyrah burst upwards, carried by her flames. She climbed high into the sky before changing her direction by blasting flames out of her hands instead of her feet to increase her falling speed. She balled up both of her fists and her flames covered both of them, just as she was about to impact the ground, she swung both of her fists down onto Esdeath, creating a flaming explosion that shook the entire Capital.

"Incredible." Akame said in awe, trying to help Tatsumi and Wave pull back the wounded, who were now all awake, watching the spectacle before them. Once they got to a safe distance, everyone watched the fight unfold.

"I've never seen Skyrah fight so reckless, but it's working." Tatsumi narrowed his eyes. "She's actually beating Esdeath."

"She's gotten more erratic and unpredictable the stronger she got." Akame explained. "She has a lot of confidence, and it's making her even stronger." She explained.

"What kind of training did you guys do to get so powerful?" Wave questioned, in awe at the sheer power Skyrah had.

"She trained harder than Rin and I, she's never taken anything so seriously and been so nonchalant about it at the same time." Akame crossed her arms. "It confused me and Rin, but it worked for her."

Rin nodded, her happiness was through the roof as Skyrah annihilated the powerhouse that was Esdeath.

Skyrah grabbed a terrified Esdeath and smashed her to the ground, putting one hand on the back of her head, a knee in her back and her other palm on the ground.

Her fire literally melted the earth underneath, turning it into molten lava and dipping her hand into it, leaving it there as she held Esdeath down.

"Is she crazy?!" Kurome looked down at her missing arm, then the scene before her.

Ava smiled wide, it was clear to her now that this Skyrah girl was figuring out her abilities, faster than she had ever seen someone do the same before.

Skyrah pulled her red-hot fist out of the magma and let Esdeath stand, turning around and preparing a shield to block the incoming attack.

The young girl released an incredibly fast and powerful punch that busted Esdeath's shield and smashed into her right shoulder, sending her right arm flying and making blood come gushing from her empty sleeve.

Esdeath's blood steamed and boiled on Skyrah's cooling hand, which was already reared back again. Once she released her next punch, she hit directly onto Esdeath's chest, throwing her right through a building and making her roll across the street she landed on, dazed and confused from Skyrah's power up.

"Esdeath can't use Loputon Voima, she doesn't even know how to manage it's power." Fox said. "She's actually lost power from using two Teigu's at once."

Akame watched incredulously as Skyrah smashed through the same building, landing on top of Esdeath once again and pounding her fists into the older woman again and again. Once the dust from the ground cleared, Skyrah stood waist deep and a hole the Esdeath was in the bottom of, trying desperately to get up, but to no avail.

"Are you finished over there?" Ava asked from across the battlefield.

Skyrah turned, her eyes glowing as she opened her mouth again, sending a giant wave of flames at Ava. The monstrous flames stood twice her height and were fully focused on Ava, cutting through the floor and leaving a trail of destruction in it's wake. Ava dodged again, knowing that if any human had been caught in it, they would have been instantly wiped off the face of the earth.

A building stood in the way of the end of the flames, which detonated like a bomb after coming into contact with the side of it. Debris was launched in all directions. Three huge pieces of concrete flew right at Skyrah, who opened her mouth again and blew them apart with another breath of fire.

"What the hell…" Wave was in awe at the tremendous force of Skyrah's attacks. He hadn't seen so much destruction since fighting Shikoutazer alongside Tatsumi, and Skyrah was easily more powerful than it now.

Skyrah charged right at Ava, who reared her fist back, lighting it up with blood-red flames. Right as the dragon-girl got in range, Ava released a devastating punch that launched her adversary in the opposite direction at a blinding speed. Skyrah flipped back in mid-air, catching herself with her bare feet and sliding across the ground before stopping right in front of her comrades.

She had her arms in an X over her chest, where they connected was a steaming spot where Ava had hit her. She put her arms down and revealed an angered glare at Ava, who grinned at her menacingly.

"All of you get to safety!" Skyrah shouted without looking behind her. "I don't know how much power I'll have to use, so I need all of you to get as many civilians out of here as possible!" She saw Ava charging up something in both of her hands.

"Evacuate the civilians…?" Akame asked under her breath, her eyes terrified of the battle that had just begun. "What are you planning on doing?!"

"I'm ending this right now! The Western continent is going home defeated!" Skyrah shouted, mostly directed towards Ava, who frowned a little and raised her arms.

"Skyrah, those scales are immune to any kind of heat or fire, don't forget to defend yourself." Rin said as she was helped to her feet alongside the other wounded.

A volley of fireballs shot out of Ava's hands, spreading out to do as much damage as possible to the entirety of Night Raid. Skyrah's eyebrows tilted down angrily and she charged forward at the blasts, punching them and causing them to detonate on her as they threatened to harm her comrades.

"Skyrah!" Akame was horrified as smoke covered her lover, but explosions continued. Somehow Skyrah was still defending them with such low visibility.

A roar that deafened everyone around it exploded from the smoke, shaking the ground around who it came from. A flaming aura surrounded Skyrah as her body went through yet another change, she could feel scales covering her legs and feet, leading up to her waist and stopping.

Her screaming continued as she gripped her body in agonizing pain.

"What is happening to her?!" Akame cried.

Rin was shaking in fear. "The Teigu is taking over her body." She said with wide eyes. "There is nothing we can do, she has to fight it off or it will take control of her mind, too." She explained.

Akame grit her teeth and felt tears fall from her eyes as she was forced to retreat with the wounded.

Skyrah almost fell, but she stood upright again, feeling the Teigu's immense power trying to take over her body. This was what Esdeath allowed to happen to her when faced with her Demon's Extract Teigu, she refused to fall victim to the same thing she did.

"I'm not giving in!" Skyrah shouted, expelling the flames surrounding her. Ava's smile widened as Skyrah's eyes found their way back to her.

She charged forward, putting her palm out and being immediately met with a kick to the side of her head.

Skyrah jumped up and continued to spin, kicking Ava again and again all over her body before landing and opening her mouth, sending out flames that swallowed the woman whole, detonating shortly after. Ava was thrown into the air, her smile still on her face.

Ava landed and wiped the blood coming from her mouth, grinning wide at Skyrah.

"A dragon versus a devil, who do you think wins?" She asked, gripping both of her fists and flexing her body, cracking the ground beneath her.

"Your destructive power is impressive, but you should know that I've done is much worse." She bragged, cracking her knuckles.

Skyrah's eyes widened as two black horns began to grow out of either side of Ava's scalp, parting her hair. She held her hand out and released a small flame that quickly grew in size, creating a huge shape. The flames suddenly extinguished, revealing a giant black scythe she had carried when Skyrah had first met her.

"I'll give you a minute, tops." Her voice was deeper and sounded angry. "Against a Devil, a lizard like you doesn't stand a chance."

Skyrah smiled, revealing a set of new, sharper canine teeth. "I guess we'll find out." She mocked, raising a hand and giving a 'come here' motion. "Come at me."

Ava spun like a top, swinging her scythe as she rocketed towards Skyrah with incredible speed, slashing at the girl as she got right up next to her. Skyrah felt the blade cut across her leg and shoulder in the the same moment and punched forward.

Ava instantly stopped spinning, catching Skyrah's fist and locking eyes with the girl, using her scythe like a spear and slamming it into Skyrah's stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her slide back. Ava flew through the air at her, swinging her weapon again and hitting Skyrah with the blunt side, throwing her aside and making chase once again.

Skyrah's right fist lit up in flames and she grabbed the ground with her left hand as she flew through the air, stopping herself and launching right back at Ava, swinging her flaming fist and catching her across the face, but feeling two more cuts across her left side. She grit her teeth and jumped back, opening her mouth and using her fire breath once again.

Ava extinguished the flames by spinning with her scythe, coming right out of them like a drill and grabbing Skyrah by the face, making her own flames burst from her palm. Skyrah went flying backwards again, crashing through two buildings before being stopped by the third. Civilians were shocked as they laid eyes on what looked like a humanoid dragon, they ran from her screaming in fear, leaving her in the middle of the road.

She struggled to her feet, her face wasn't burned, but that attack had definitely hurt her. Skyrah looked down at her scaled arm and gripped her fist, bringing it up in front of her face.

"I'm not losing, I can't." She stated. "Ava will kill everyone."

Skyrah was now aware of the importance this battle held, this wasn't just another fight someone would win if she couldn't, she had to win. Win or die. Nobody else could compete with her while wounded like they were. She was the last person Ava had to get through, then would have free reign over everyone else.

The woman came barreling towards her, swinging the sharp side of her scythe right at Skyrah.

She looked to her side, grabbing the scythe blade with one hand and squeezed as hard as she could, smashing the thick metal under her powerful grip. Ava looked surprised.

"Nobody's ever done that before." Ava laughed, stopping her advance and standing across the street from Skyrah, studying her face. "What's that look for?"

Skyrah didn't change her expression. "I'm going to kill you, for the sake of all my friends."

Ava burst into laughter. "You mean to tell me your fighting for the people who just abandoned you? Even the two that stabbed you in the back?" She cackled. "Those people are holding you back, if anything, friends do that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Skyrah gripped her fists, making flames cover the both of them. "They don't hold this power back."

Ava shook her head. "That's not what I mean, you should be your own person, fighting for what _you_ want, rather than protecting a whole country of others." She closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side and grinning.

Skyrah was right in front of Ava before she could react, smashing her fist into the side of her head. She kicked her opposite side so she stayed upright and released a volley of punches, smacking the woman around like a ragdoll.

"Is that what your superiors told you?!" Skyrah continued her attacks on the woman, caught off guard by Skyrah's intense strength. "How long did it take before that was drilled into your head?!" Skyrah uppercutted the woman and let her land on her back.

Ava held her chin in pain as she rose, and angry look on her face. "H-how dare you…" She growled.

"How dare you!" Skyrah shot forward and punched Ava right on the top of her head, plowing her face into the ground with force that shook the buildings around them. "I fight for what I think is right, what my heart decides!" She shouted, gripping both of her fists into one, slamming them down onto Ava.

Skyrah let Ava rise again. Her face was stricken with fury, Skyrah had struck a nerve.

"Nobody is my superior!" She swung for Skyrah, but was parried instantly, receiving a punch to the jaw that spun her around from it's power.

She turned back and got a knee jammed into her stomach. "Bullshit!" Skyrah shouted, just as furious as Ava. Skyrah's eyes had changed drastically, becoming orange all around a vertical black split in the center of them, identical to the eyes of a dragon.

"I've never been beaten, and I'll be damned…" Ava slashed her fist like a blade and smacked Skyrah to the side. "If I lose to some poser like you!"

Ava smashed her fist into her enemy's chest and sent her flying down the street, skipping across the ground like a rock across water.

Skyrah put her hands under her, digging into the ground with her claws and pulling against her momentum as hard as she could, reversing it and firing right back at Ava like a bullet.

Without stopping, Skyrah made her entire right arm catch aflame and punched Ava straight into her face, crushing her nose and throwing her away.

Ava tried to regain her balance, but Skyrah was once again there and kicked her in the side of her head, keeping her upright by punching her in the opposite side of the head then delivering the final blow into the center of her chest with a right straight punch.

Skyrah took a breath as Ava shot down then road, grinding to a halt and sprawling out in the middle of the road.

"Poser?" Skyrah questioned, grinning wildly as Ava struggled to her feet. "I'll show you who the poser is…"

She put her right fist in her left palm, holding them together in front of her and tensing up her body. She hadn't done this technique in some time, and losing Loputon Voima wouldn't make it any easier on her. Her body shuddered then vanished, appearing right behind a now standing Ava, she opened both of her hands and slashed her claws like daggers, cutting across Ava's spine before spinning on her right heel and kicking Ava where she was previously standing.

Ava stood once again, wobbling as she turned around and faced her adversary.

"My fire burns brighter and hotter than yours ever will." Skyrah said, her four limbs bursting into flames to further antagonize her frustrated enemy.

Ava released a giant flame that went flying through the air at Skyrah, who opened her mouth and chomped down onto the crimson flames, expelling them instantly. Skyrah put her hands up with her palms open, creating a giant spinning ball of flames that she threw right at Ava, who had no time to dodge and could only try and block the attack. She was forced back and eventually her defense was broken and the flames enveloped her, carrying her for some distance then detonating upon touching a tall restaurant, annihilating everything around them.

Skyrah charged through the smoke and falling debris, closing her eyes and locking onto Ava's energy. She blindly reached forward, grabbing Ava's collar to her shirt and blasting upwards out of the smoke, leaving a huge trail of flames under her as she gained altitude.

Akame and the others watched from a distance, watching Skyrah rear back and throw Ava back down at the Earth, sending a beam of flames from her hands that followed Ava and shook the entire Capital as they both collided into the ground at the same time.

"That's her!" Tatsumi shouted in happiness

"She's sending tremors for miles!" Kurome said in complete disbelief, seeing trees in the distance shake from the vibrations.

"Skyrah can win this, she has to!" Mine coughed, grinning up at where her flying comrade was, knowing even if neither of them could see or hear each other, Skyrah could feel the support from her friends.

Ava struggled to her feet, wobbling from the pain rushing through her body. She looked up into the sky and began laughing maniacally.

Skyrah frowned, knowing she still had more fight in her. She floated at the same altitude, aided by her flames.

"You bitch!" Ava screamed, her body lighting up in red flames, contrasting Skyrah's orange and yellow flames. "I'm going to burn you to fucking ash!" She blasted up at Skyrah, her whole body shaking from the speed she was charging at.

Skyrah blocked the first punch with her forearm, getting pushed back but keeping her balance and firing back another punch that was ducked under. The two continued this trend, blocking and defending punches and kicks in the air, neither of them landing a single blow.

Everyone watched from the ground below, even civilians had started to spectate the final battle, Esdeath had her eyes open, staring incredulously at the two superpowers fighting in the air.

Skyrah put her fists together, smashing them into the side of Ava's face, making her spin around. Ava jabbed into Skyrah's face and made her slide away, still staying upright.

"Die!" Ava put her hands up and sent a beam of flames up at Skyrah.

Skyrah put her arms over her chest in an X and felt the impact of the beam push her back and cover her whole body. She found herself in the same position moments later, the flames around her had vanished and Ava looked up to the girl in horror.

Scales had covered everything on Skyrah's body, even crawling up her neck and fading into skin on the front of her face, her clothes were almost completely incinerated, her chest and lower region were barely covered by scraps of cloth that had held together under the burning flames.

Skyrah stormed down to Ava, kicking her through the air with unreal strength. Ava regained her balance and was hit once again, causing what sounded like a sonic boom to crack through the air. Each punch Skyrah unleashed released the same pressurized blast as they connected with Ava's abused body. Her whole body screamed for her to give up, but she fought against her own warnings, continuing to attack back at Skyrah.

Ava swung her fist and connected with the side of Skyrah's face, breaking one of her knuckles as the scales absorbed all of the impact. Skyrah leaned back and headbutted Ava then grabbed her by the waist, spun her upside down and kicked her in the stomach, sending her crashing into the side of a tower and out the other side.

A torrent of flames blew the tower apart as they followed after Ava, swallowing her like a hungry animal. Balls of fire that exploded on impact bombarded her place in the air, throwing her around like a ragdoll and breaking her bones. Ava found an opening in the barrage and flew towards Skyrah from the huge wall of smoke and mid-air and found herself with Skyrah's huge hand wrapped around her face, waves of flames assaulting it.

Akame and the others were in complete disbelief, they hadn't ever seen a battle like this, nor thought they would ever spectate one.

"This is insane, she has more power than she knows what to do with…" Said an injured Akame, her overcoat blowing violently from the pressure Skyrah and Ava was exerting. "Even Esdeath couldn't keep up with them, they're in their own league." She stated, gathering the attention of her comrades.

"Skyrah looks so different…" Rin said, seeing her old Teigu at it's maximum power. "Those scales…"

Ava took another punch at Skyrah's scales, trying to boost the speed of her punch by sending flames out of her elbow as she shot her arm forward at the other girl's abdominal region. The sound of a bone breaking followed the impact, making Ava jolt back as yet another one of her knuckles were broken without doing any damage to Skyrah.

Skyrah mimicked Ava's punch and boosted her arm forward with her own flames, knocking Ava down towards the ground yet again. Ava flipped backwards in the air and caught herself, flying back up to Skyrah with a flaming fist reared back, ready to attack once more, determined to end the fight right there. Skyrah was heaving for breath, exhausted from the prolonged battle of two incredible powers, but she narrowed her eyes again, focusing her energy.

Skyrah took a huge breath, leaning her whole body up as all of the heat in the air was absorbed into her body, fire was falling down the sides of her face and down to the earth as she charged up all of her remaining strength into one final attack.

"Do it!"

"End this!"

"Skyrah!"

Voices echoed through the Capital and into Skyrah's ears, all from her comrades she had met over the past two years. They had all settled their rivalries, and come together for this final battle, and she was not about to let them down. Visions of her lost friends and family members crowded her sight, she remembered her past, the temple where she had been taught martial arts, her time with Budo, the day she arrived back in Japan, only to find herself thrown into a war she never could have prepared herself for.

She first was confronted by a man in control of an underground trafficking ring, she hadn't struggled to kill him, but what she had become would have no trouble handling hundreds of that man, she had grown this powerful through blood, sweat, and tears. Her own determination had led up to this very moment, the moment she released an attack with more power the continent had never seen at once.

Sacher, Leo, Mia, Champ, Dorothea, Caesar, even her own brother… All of them had doubted her, tried to kill her and erase her from the world she had fought so hard to be a part of. Now she would prove them all wrong at once.

She pulled her body forward, roaring with all of her might, sending a massive barrage of flames that rushed towards Ava, her defense was immediately broken and she was thrown towards the ground, landing and watching helplessly as the monstrous flames of a dragon fell from the sky towards her. She closed her eyes and waited.

An explosion rocked the Capital, freshly abandoned houses, stores, roads, and other structures within a mile radius were completely swallowed and annihilated by the blazing explosion, even buildings not caught in the blast radius crumbled and collapsed from the incredible pressure.

Night Raid and the Jaegers braced themselves and held tight to one another as wind blew other men, women and children over like dolls. After a few minutes, the wind stopped and the smoke had cleared to reveal a huge crater left in the Earth. Only one living person had been caught in the explosion. Ava.

Skyrah still hovered over the Capital, breathing heavily from the incredible pains in her body.

Her skin had returned to normal, the only thing that remained from the transformation were her blazing orange eyes. She slowly descended to the ground, landing in the center of the crater she had created, right next to where Ava was splayed out, eyes white and body unmoving. She watched her for a few more minutes, waiting for any sign of life from the older woman, if she were to get up again, Skyrah would have no chance against her.

She eventually let out a deep sigh of relief, but suddenly felt fingers wrap around her ankle. She looked down under her, seeing Ava clinging to her with her last moments of life.

"You've gone and done it now…" She coughed up blood. "You've… Angered the Gods."

Skyrah was in shock the woman had managed to live through that attack. It was incredible.

"H-how are you…?" Skyrah asked, gulping hard.

"You beat me… You stupid bitch…" She laid her head back into the ground, staring up at the morning sky. "You should have just died… Now… Everyone you've ever cared about… Is as good as dead."

"Is that how they threatened you?" Skyrah questioned, remaining as calm as she could.

Ava chuckled weakly. "If anyone can beat them, it's you lot." She said, looking to the side at the approaching comrades of Skyrah. "The strongest group on the planet… They'll come for you, especially after beating us."

Skyrah smiled. "Well, I guess I'll have to train harder." She laughed, scratching the hair in the back of her head.

"I just wish we could have been like you…" Ava remembered the shared emotions of Night Raid and the Jaegers as she attacked their precious member. "A family was what I wanted, not some mercenary group… I guess I'll never know that feeling." Ava closed her eyes, taking her final breath as the sun's radiant light poured over onto the world which she lay dying on.

Skyrah rose from a crouching position, facing her friends with a smile on her face as they ran towards her, smiles across their faces and tears of happiness streaming from their eyes. Those wounded were carried by their comrades, all had come together in celebration for this historic moment. This was the day the Eastern world beat the Western.

"We did it!" Rin cheered in joy.

Everyone was ecstatic, each of them were hugging one another and holding each other on their feet, giving high-fives and knuckle bumps. Akame held up a wounded and worn out Skyrah, who was cut, scratched, and bruised all over her hardly clothed body. Akame wrapped her white and red coat over Skyrah, who smiled and nodded in thanks.

Akame closed her eyes and leaned in towards Skyrah, who did the same, meeting each other in a short kiss.

Rin smiled upon seeing the two in each other's embrace. Skyrah now had her Teigu, but she wasn't the least bit unhappy about it, and neither was the Teigu, who had been searching for a being powerful enough to handle the Dragon variant.

Skyrah felt a weak energy walking towards the group, when she opened her eyes, she noticed everybody had quieted down, and was facing the same direction, watching Esdeath approach, missing one arm and with a bruised body.

"I'm… Not done." She said, flexing her body. "Loputon Voima: 500 percent!"

Esdeath collapsed instantly, screaming from the stress of Skyrah's Teigu on her weakened body.

Akame felt movement on her waist, then saw Skyrah in front of the group with Murasame in her hands, swinging down at Esdeath and cutting across her chest, cutting her scream short.

Murasame's poison slid under Esdeath's skin, making her fall face-first into the ground from her already kneeling position, silently dying from Skyrah's killing blow.

"I guess you're still looking out for me, huh?" Skyrah looked up to the sky. "Loputon Voima."

Skyrah knew Esdeath could handle Limit Break, even injured like she was, that wasn't what hurt her. Loputon Voima had not only suppressed her strength, it had attacked her body after she had tried to push it to it's limit.

Black blood slid out of Esdeath's wounds, disappearing into the ground below. Loputon Voima was gone.

Skyrah smiled. "Thank you." She whispered, feeling her strength start to give out.

Arms wrapped around her from behind, Akame had a hold of her, holding her up.

"I've got you, babe." She said, holding Skyrah tight.

Skyrah had a weak smile on her face. "Don't ever let go."


	29. Chapter 29: Kill the Hurt

**Chapter 29**

 **Kill the Hurt**

The coming three weeks was void of all stress for Night Raid, who had absorbed the remnants of the Jaegers and taken up their new headquarters in the castle at the center of the Capital shortly after the battle had concluded. Each member was filled with joy and relief the fighting was finally over. Both the Western continent and the Revolutionary war had finished in one final battle that cost every member of Night Raid something. Najenda had met a gruesome end at the hands of Esdeath, but was honored in the highest regards as the one who rebuilt the Capital and Government after the previous Emperor's reign of terror and poverty.

Leone was appointed as the new leader of Night Raid, being the oldest not only age but as a member in the group and most experienced in leading. Her attitude hardly changed, however, she still remained the cheery and playful Leone they had always known.

This was the first day Night Raid was meeting after three weeks of peace and time to rest. Within that time, Wave confessed his feelings to Kurome, and was met with mutual feelings, creating yet another couple in the group. Skyrah and Akame had left for two entire months and returned only the day before the meeting. They had gone on vacation to a popular resort near the ocean, relaxing and gathering their thoughts for the coming days.

Akame struggled to get her always pumped up girlfriend to relax, but managed to keep her settled down a few days out of the week and spent as much time as she could with Skyrah. Within hours of reaching the resort, Skyrah had already picked a fight with Imperial Guards, who viewed her as an ally but made comments about Akame's body a little too loud. A day after that she somehow managed to attract a shark while swimming in the ocean for the first time, but was too stubborn to get out of the water like all the other people, and just fought the shark with her bare hands, eventually throwing it on land and punting it back out into the ocean, far away from her so it didn't disturb her swimming.

Most other days Skyrah was calm, not picking fights with sea life or anything like that, and instead swimming, relaxing, and taking Akame on as many dates as she could manage. The couple had more than one day where the 'Do Not Disturb' sign was placed on their hotel room door, exploring their bodies like a couple normally did.

Plenty of guys made moves on Skyrah and Akame, and we're almost always met with the fist of the one they weren't hitting on. Security rarely had to step in, and just let them run their course, each of them knowing exactly who they were dealing with.

Skyrah and the rest of Night Raid had gained an incredible popularity after saving the Capital not only from the New Shikoutazer, but also from defeating Esdeath, and an entire country invading them.

Tatsumi and Mine were equally as loving on each other as Skyrah and Akame, but they stayed within the Capital, walking around and going on dates and shopping trips each and every day.

Now they had all gathered in the new headquarters for Night Raid and Japan's new government. Skyrah and Akame were the last to arrive the night before the meeting was scheduled, they had met up with everyone and then went straight to bed, told to attend the meeting early the next morning.

Akame awoke just as the sun rose and got herself ready, knowing Skyrah would be difficult to wake up as it was. Ever since she received Rin's Teigu, her body almost forced her to get more sleep, if it didn't get enough she would be grumpy for hours, and a grumpy girlfriend in an important meeting was the last thing she wanted.

After bathing and fixing her hair, Akame walked out in her towel and shook Skyrah lightly by her shoulder, getting a little whimper in response from her waking girlfriend. Akame waited by the side of the bed for a few moments, then pulled down the covers off of Skyrah slowly.

She was wearing a pink pajama shirt and pants with little white bunnies sewn into the soft material. Her left pant leg had hiked up to her upper thigh and her shirt had been pulled up, exposing her belly, her brown hair was spread unevenly across her pillow, almost covering it.

Akame smirked a little, it was unlike Skyrah to wear something like that, but if she found it more comfortable, then more power to her.

"Sky, it's time to get up~" She cooed softly at her.

Skyrah squeezed her eyes, then cracked them open, peering around the room and landing on a towel-wearing Akame. She tilted her head up, giving her girlfriend a goofy and drowsy smile, reaching her hand out and wrapping her fingers around the top of the towel, pulling Akame down to her gently.

Akame went along with Skyrah and eventually was on her hands and knees on the bed, her towel still being held by her significant other.

"Skyrah, are you awake?" Akame asked, not completely knowing.

Skyrah giggled softly and pulled Akame's towel off, pulling her atop her clothed body and kissing her passionately, both partners explored each other's bodies with their hands and continued the kiss. Akame pulled her knee under her and roughly pressed it between Skyrah's legs, making her moan into her mouth.

A rough knock at their door made the both of them freeze in place.

"You girls almost ready? We're heading down now!" Mine called, putting her head on the door and listening for a response. When she received none she began to open the door and both Skyrah and Akame sprung out of bed.

Mine blinked when she laid her eyes on the scene before her. Skyrah stood proudly in pink bunny pajamas with disheveled hair and behind her, with her chest held against Skyrah's back, was a very embarrassed Akame.

Mine took a double-take, then another just for good measure. She burst out laughing, holding her stomach in legitimate pain as she laid her eyes on the scene before her. Tatsumi came up behind her, looking a little confused.

Akame's eyes widened and she picked up a small wooden clock on her nightstand, launching it across the room and hitting Tatsumi right in the forehead with it and dropping him instantly.

"Out!" Akame shouted, trying to further hide her body with Skyrah's body.

Mine tried her best to stop laughing and speak, but couldn't do it to save her life, she was pointing at Skyrah's pajamas in disbelief. She couldn't stop finding the hilarity in how ridiculous it looked on her.

Skyrah grew aggravated from Mine's mocking, she crossed her arms and glared at the younger girl, who didn't fear Skyrah at all and glared right back.

"Come here!" They said in unison, Skyrah tried to jump forward and Mine did the same, but both partners held them back.

Tatsumi and Akame knew it was a playful fight, but playful to Skyrah was not the same as playful to the government officials that resided in the castle with them, even more so now that they had gotten so powerful.

Skyrah snapped her fingers and a tiny flame burned off one of Mine's bangs, making Skyrah giggle mischievously but making the receiver nearly burst into tears until her sadness turned to frustration, and her frustration turned into anger.

Mine reached for something behind the door and picked up Pumpkin, pointing it at Skyrah and charging up the beam.

"Get lost!" Mine shouted before a ball of pure energy left her weapon, with the intention to damage her comrade without killing her.

Skyrah swung her left fist, which had suddenly become covered in scales, and batted the blast into the wall, creating a hole about the size of her body. The two both froze in shock at what they'd just done, even Tatsumi and Akame had frozen the same way, loosening their grips on both of their partners.

In a split second Mine broke away, swinging her right fist in a wild punch, and Skyrah perfectly mimicked her move, each connecting to each other's cheeks and holding there for a moment, their arms locked together, pushing in an attempt to make one or the other back down.

Akame pulled back against her girlfriend's ridiculous strength, and Tatsumi finally got a good hold on Mine.

"That's your fault!" Both Mine and Skyrah said in unison, pointing at the hole in the wall. "What?!" The two said again upon hearing the blame on them.

"Cut it out, you two!" Akame shouted in frustration. "We need to get ready!"

Tatsumi slammed the door shut, much to the dislike of his partner who instead of shouting at Skyrah was now shouting at a closed door.

Skyrah gave a little chuckle, even upon being spun around and seeing Akame's angered face.

"Go get in the shower." Akame couldn't help but smirk as she pushed her now giggling girlfriend away.

Skyrah grabbed Akame's hand just as she began heading towards the bathroom, pulling her along. "Come on, let's shower."

Akame tried to resist a little. "I just got out." She deadpanned, reaching away.

Skyrah turned around with her eyes narrowed. "Sooo~?" She cooed intimately, feeling Akame stop resisting almost immediately and continuing into the bathroom with her.

"You're going to have to be quick then." Akame acted reluctant, even though it had been a few days since the two had been intimate.

The brown haired girl harrumphed with a smirk. "Never with you." She turned around and began kissing Akame, closing the door at the same time.

All members of Night Raid sat around a large business table, all dressed quite appropriately for the occasion. This was supposed to be the first important talks of what Night Raid stood for now that the Capital had been overthrown, and the corrupt officials had been dispatched. Leaders from around the world would gather just to talk to them, a group of misfits who led the revolution.

"Nice to see everyone dressed well." Leone said as she entered the room, taking her seat beside Akame. "It's good to see you all again."

Leone had been traveling in the few weeks since Ava's defeat, all the spotlight had been on her team after she had basically returned from death. From what Skyrah had gathered, she had already passed out when Leone found the group completely battered and wounded, her Teigu had helped her body heal after being burned by Rin and she was the least wounded out of them all by the end of the day.

Just as Leone sat, around ten well built men in black suits entered the room, finding their way to the corners of the big room and making eye contact with no one, looking straight ahead. Behind them came a mixture of seven men and women, all wearing some kind of suit or military garb and looking like they had been days without sleep from the bags under their eyes.

One older, black haired man with huge shoulders and about a thousand medals on his green coat shook Leone's hand, sitting down across from her. Skyrah looked closely at him, but he seemed to refuse to make eye contact with only her, she had a strange feeling they had met somewhere before, she just couldn't figure out where or when.

Across from Skyrah sat an incredibly short elderly woman with a huge head in comparison to her tiny body. The young assassin couldn't help but look at her as one of the aforementioned men in a suit came and placed a stool on her seat so she could be at the height of the others. As she finally got situated, she took out a pair of thick glasses that Skyrah couldn't possibly understand how she actually could see through. Even though the woman didn't seem to even open her eyes behind the glasses, it seemed like she was staring right at Skyrah.

"Hiya!" Skyrah greeted, leaning across the entire table and outstretching her arm. "My name's Skyrah, nice to meet you all!"

Leone was shocked beyond belief at Skyrah's behavior, but felt a little relieved when it seemed that the elderly woman across from her was rather excited to shake her hand.

"So nice to meet you, dear." She shook Skyrah's hand slowly.

The young girl felt like she was going to break the older woman's arm off just by touching it.

"Uh… You're Skyrah?" A younger man asked, fixing his hair as she looked over at him.

"Yes, that's me." Skyrah said, sliding back into her seat and smiling at him.

"My people described you much differently…" The young man said, raising an eyebrow. "i apologize, I suppose I thought you'd be a bit… taller?" He sounded unsure of himself.

"She's stronger than she looks, believe me." Kurome said, adjusting how she was sitting. "She's deflected Shikoutazer's main cannon before."

Another one of the three women nearly spit out her drink when she heard that, she quickly set it on the large table in front of her and laughed in uncertainty. "You must be joking." She said, looking around at the nonchalant expressions on the young adults that had apparently saved the country. "That thing could blow apart city blocks like they were nothing, hell it almost killed Tatsumi. I was there during that fight." She crossed her arms.

Tatsumi leaned forward. "I was there when she took the shot."

The woman's eyes grew wide in surprise, she quickly quieted down.

Leone cleared her throat. "You all know why we're here, so why don't you give us a little information?" She said, facing the leaders.

The man that had shaken Leone's hand stood up. "We're here to discuss what exactly Night Raid is, and how we can all benefit from it." He explained, using his hands as he spoke. "We all come from the Revolutionary Army that Najenda had led, but now in these powerful positions we want to make the right decisions for the people we intend to govern."

There was an eerie silence in the room, just as it became uncomfortable, the man began to circle the table.

"Night Raid, while not specifically named, has reached the public eye. People think of you as heroes, they've thrown parades for you, even made dolls and posters of your logo." He leaned against the back of Akame's chair, making Skyrah more than a little uncomfortable. "While they don't have your faces, it won't take long for someone to realize a couple of kids are living in the castle." He looked down at Akame, just as she looked up at him, winking down at her and continuing to walk.

Akame looked over at Skyrah, who was nearly steaming from the anger she felt after witnessing what he had done. The red eyed assassin quickly slipped her hand into Skyrah's under the table, holding it tightly. "Calm down." She whispered.

"I'll break his face." Skyrah murmured, following him with a murderous look in her eyes.

Tatsumi cleared his throat. "I for one don't really see that as a bad thing." He said, getting a smirk from the man.

"I suppose you wouldn't, kid." The black haired man basically insulted. "All you people have done is fight for us, we don't need that anymore." He growled.

"Excuse me." Leone looked upset. "This is my team, Najenda's team too, you will not speak to them like that, regardless of their age." She warned.

"Najenda is dead. You may lead her team but I lead what used to be the revolution." He replied powerfully, slamming his fist into the table. "I make the decisions around here, along with my team."

All of Night Raid shared the same disgusted reaction to the man, looking around at each other in confusion.

"You've been talking a lot, Sir." Skyrah mocked his title. "But I haven't heard much decision making." She crossed her arms, glaring at him, but he still didn't look right at her.

"My decision is that as of right now, Night Raid is over." He deadpanned, looking at all the members, and finally meeting eyes with Skyrah. "You will be moved back to your old headquarters. Effective immediately."

He stopped where he had first taken a seat and began to gather his things.

"Hold on!" Leone shouted. "You can't just make a decision like that! You wouldn't even be in this position if it weren't for this team!"

"I have no trust in the team that destroyed half the Capital and took years to kill Esdeath." He mocked, looking up at Leone. "Couldn't even finish all of them, even after all that destruction."

Skyrah grit her teeth. It had been kept away from her for a few days after the fact, but somehow Ava had survived the onslaught of attacks the assassin had thrown at her. She was now being held at a maximum security prison at least a hundred miles off the coast of any major landmass. She would likely be kept there as a prisoner of war for the remainder of her life, that was, if she didn't burn the whole place down first.

They all took their leave from the room, leaving behind a rather dumbfounded and starstruck Night Raid.

"This is bullshit." Skyrah grumbled, pulling her and Akame's things into their room.

While new to Skyrah, it was quite familiar to Akame, who had lived there for most of her time in Night Raid. This was their first headquarters which was attacked by Team Stylish years before, with Esdeath gone and the Jaegers now integrated into Night Raid, there was no need to leave it abandoned. Besides, it was much larger than the one Susanoo had helped build, and Akame's room was a perfect size for her and Skyrah.

While Akame cleaned up their room, her girlfriend placed all their belongings around the room, setting up dressers, mirrors, their bed, even finding good looking spots for their decorative things.

When they both completed, they both collapsed onto the bed in satisfaction. Somehow they had spent most of their morning moving in, when just a few hours ago they woke up in a completely different place. Akame rolled over and laid on top of Skyrah, holding her lovingly.

"I know it's not perfect, but I think you'll like it here." She spoke softly, almost like a whisper.

Skyrah hugged her tight. "Don't worry, it's kind of cool here, being so far away and everything." She smiled a real, genuine smile. When Akame told her things like that she always ended up feeling better, and now was no exception.

"Good." She said, pulling her head up a little so she was just inches from Skyrah's face. "I love you."

The assassin could feel her heart skip a beat in that magical moment. Her lover, the girl she cared about more than anyone else, was so close to her. She leaned up and kissed her, pulling her down and whispering in her ear.

"I love you too."


	30. Chapter 30: Kill the Return

**Chapter 30**

 **Kill the Return**

"Skyrah, wake up." Akame's voice echoed in Skyrah's ear, making her a little more alert to the world around her as she awoke from her interrupted slumber. She cracked her eyes open, seeing Akame at the foot of the bed, looking rather impatient. As Skyrah sat up she rubbed her eyes roughly, then finally made eye contact with Akame.

"Mornin'." She yawned, stretching her arms before letting them fall down onto the bed.

"It's evening." Akame deadpanned.

Skyrah gave a little laugh. "Details, details." She said, narrowing her eyes when Akame didn't see any amusement in it. "Are you okay?"

"No." The words were like a slap in the face to Skyrah, who could now tell something was very wrong. She crawled down to the foot of the bed, hugging Akame.

"What's the matter?" Skyrah asked, feeling Akame squirm uncomfortably in her grip.

"There are people here, talking to Leone." She said, finally hugging Skyrah back. "I didn't want to alarm you, so I wanted to wake you up so we can go down together." Skyrah could feel Akame shaking in her arms, out of fear.

"Whoa, babe, what's going on?" Skyrah worried, looking into Akame's almost panicked eyes.

Akame stayed silent, but leaned in and kissed Skyrah deeply, falling into the passionate kiss which seemed to calm her down a little.

"Please just come with me." Akame said, her voice shaky.

"Alright, alright." Skyrah slid out of bed, putting her hair up into a ponytail. Akame held onto her arm as she was doing so, her head hung and her eyes on the ground. Skyrah grew even more worried the longer she looked at Akame, wondering what could have possibly gotten her so scared.

Skyrah locked hands with Akame as they exited their room and made their way into what was like a meeting hall, where all members of Night Raid had gathered, all silent as they listened into the feminine voice speaking to Leone.

Just as they entered the room an overwhelming pressure seemed to press down on Skyrah's shoulders. Her eyes grew wide as they fell onto the woman standing before Leone, who turned back to meet her eyes.

"Hello, Skyrah." Ava said.

A small smile appeared on her face as Skyrah's face twisted into confusion and anger.

Akame's grip on Skyrah's hand intensified.

Skyrah felt her anger building, she turned abruptly to Leone. "What the hell is this?"

"Skyrah, please try to calm down, I'm not here to hurt you." Ava's words were venomous in Skyrah's ears. Nothing of what she said sounded sincere.

Leone stood up from where she was sitting. "Skyrah, she's not lying." She said.

Skyrah tried to walk up to her, but Akame held her hand firmly, holding her in place. When she turned back, the crimson eyes she was met with screamed fear. "Please don't." Akame begged.

Looking away, Skyrah once again met eyes with Ava.

"What do you want." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

Ava smirked, walking over to Skyrah slowly.

"Sky…" Akame tried to pull Skyrah away, but she stood her ground.

Ava finally stopped when they were face-to-face. "It's been a bit, hasn't it?" She asked.

"Shut up, Ava." Skyrah said, glaring into her calm eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Returning a stolen item." Ava said with a satisfied smile, pointing up to Leone, who was holding the goblet that held black blood.

Skyrah's eyes widened. "Is that…?"

"Loputon Voima." Ava finished. "Surprised?"

Still glaring, Skyrah looked deep into Ava's eyes. "What's the catch?"

Ava laughed, stepping back and turning around. "I've been working non-stop for three weeks to find this damn blood." She answered with a grin. "It was either this or rot in a cell for the rest of my life, so I guess the catch is I'm a free woman."

"Not exactly, Ava." Leone interrupted, receiving a dirty look from the red-haired woman. "You are still considered a national threat, you aren't leaving Japan just to rebuild another army."

Ava frowned. "I don't need those weaklings." Skyrah narrowed her eyes at the remark, wondering just what she meant.

"You're to remain here, out of public eye." Leone finished.

A response of anger came from every single member of Night Raid.

Ignoring their frustration with Leone, Ava smirked. "I suppose it's better than a cell." She remarked, looking around to the people she recently regarded as enemies. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine."

Ava met eyes with Akame, who immediately broke eye contact by shoving her face down into Skyrah's shoulder.

"Akame…" Skyrah was furious with Leone's decision, but she was even more worried at how Akame was acting, she wanted to figure out why.

Ava approached the both of them, and Skyrah felt Akame start to shake in fear. The golden-eyed woman extended her hand towards Skyrah with a grin on her face. "Look forward to working with you, little girl."

Skyrah refused to shake her hand, but she noticed the thick white bracelet stuck on her wrist, which Ava quickly picked up on.

"It suppresses my power." Ava answered before Skyrah could ask. "Fire is dangerous, you should know that." She chuckled darkly and walked away, towards the others.

"Skyrah… Come on…" Akame pulled on Skyrah's hand, leading her towards the front door of the headquarters. Skyrah reluctantly pulled back at first, but soon followed her girlfriend outside, where the sun was just about to set.

In the orange evening glow, Akame and Skyrah sat at the edge of a cliff that faced a deep valley, covered in waves of trees for as far as they could see. It had been over an hour, but Akame had only just stopped shaking in Skyrah's arms, they hadn't spoken for the whole time they'd been outside.

"Akame..." Skyrah started softly, nuzzling the side of her girlfriend's face. "We need to talk about this."

"No. We don't." Akame sounded cold, even annoyed with the advance.

"You've been shaking for the past hour…" Skyrah tried again.

Akame shifted in Skyrah's arms, leaning her head against the shorter girl's chest. "It's cold." She deadpanned. "Snuggle me."

"It's the middle of July, it's like ninety degrees out here." She responded, holding Akame tighter because of the cute way she asked.

"Shut up, Skyrah." She snapped.

A silence fell over both of them.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"But-"

"It's fine." Skyrah repeated. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with you."

Another silence.

"Skyrah… I…" Akame trailed off.

Skyrah stayed quiet, allowing Akame to find the right words.

"I watched that woman basically beat you to death." She said softly. "I've seen you fight before, and I know you aren't a stranger to getting hurt, but that was different, you could have died, and all I could do was act like a coward because I was in pain."

Skyrah's eyes widened.

"I can't stand to look at her, even feel her presence, because I know what she can do to you." Akame admitted, feeling herself begin to shake again.

Skyrah spun her around, holding her by the shoulders. "Your leg was basically hanging on by a thread, don't you ever blame yourself for my injuries, got it?" She scolded. "I knew full well I was going to get hurt in that fight, it was miraculous she didn't do even more damage."

Akame looked shocked until her eyes filled with tears and she lunged forward, basically tackling Skyrah, screaming and crying into her chest. Skyrah couldn't do a thing except for hold her for the next few minutes.

"I love you, Akame." Skyrah said in her ear. "I love you so much."

No one had ever worried so much about her more than Akame, their love had transcended all barriers, pushed through all challenges. Not only were they lovers, they were also best friends, rivals, and excellent partners.

Skyrah awoke the next morning facing the ceiling. Akame was still sleeping beside her, snuggling against her slightly smaller frame. The fiery-eyed assassin smiled upon seeing the goofy sleeping face of Akame, her mouth had come slightly agape in the middle of the night, allowing her to drool a little on Skyrah's pillow which she had joined her on hours before.

With a slight giggle, Skyrah lightly pressed under Akame's chin, making the sleeping girl close her mouth. It only took a few swift movements for Skyrah to escape from Akame's grasp, replacing her body with a warm pillow, and silently getting herself ready. Today would be one of her first days back out on a job, and one of her few jobs alone. Najenda had always used a buddy system when she was in charge, but Leone had sent out others recently just alone, but none of them were jobs like this. She was actually tracking and killing a huge group of bandits that had found refuge in the woods nearby the headquarters.

Skyrah noticed the small bandage in the place opposite her elbow, which she promptly peeled away, feeling a small stab of pain go up her arm. She quickly shook off the pain and dressed herself, exiting her room and making her way downstairs to the kitchen, where Rin was focused in on cutting up vegetables. Skyrah sat in a stool across from her, yawning and putting her chin down on the high wooden table.

For the first time that morning Skyrah took a look at her hands, but mostly her nails in particular. She had never been a fan of painting them, during her training they would just chip off and end up looking ugly, but it seemed like sometime while she was sleeping Akame had painted them a sharp silver color which reflected in the light above her.

Rin finally noticed her and stopped what she was doing, laying down the knife in her hand and giving a big smile to her friend.

"Morning, sleepyhead." She said, tapping her nails against the wooden countertop.

"Good morning, Rin." Skyrah responded with a smile. "It's been a bit since we talked."

Rin shrugged. "It's only been a few days, Sky." She giggled, looking her over with quizzical eyes. "How you feeling?"

Skyrah stretched her arms out, feeling her strength returning to her drowsy body. "Refreshed." She answered with a smile.

"That all?" Rin asked, raising an eyebrow. "I suppose that means you haven't noticed."

Skyrah crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side a little. "Noticed what?"

Rin took a deep breath. "When you were in your bed, Leone and I allowed a special Doctor from the revolutionary army come and give you Loputon Voima back." She revealed. "He put you under anesthesia last night, Akame was a little worried, but you didn't have any violent reaction to it like when you ingested it."

Skyrah looked shocked. "Wait, you did this all in one night?" She asked quickly. "What happened to your old Teigu?"

Rin shrugged. "Spirit Flame was a small stone, but it was broken down and destroyed when Loputon Voima entered your bloodstream." She finished explaining. "Yeah, and it looks to me like your eyes are back to normal as well."

Skyrah hopped off her stool and went to the window behind where Rin was standing, getting close to the glass and focusing on her reflection, namely the sparkling emerald eyes that she hadn't seen in a little less than a month.

"How… How did you know this would work?" Skyrah inquired, trying to make sure she hadn't just been used as a Guinea pig.

"Esdeath's Teigu had recently been retrieved too, they used the same method when giving it to someone, and the voices that Esdeath heard when she received it didn't happen." Rin explained. "Your Teigu and her's are in the same category, so the guessed it was probably the same deal."

"Guessed?" Skyrah turned around, placing her hand on the table and tapping her fingers against the wood.

Rin noticed the silver polish on Skyrah's nails. "Now that is a little unexpected."

"What?" Skyrah looked down at her fingernails and realized what Rin meant. "You think these are metal now?"

"We can find out for sure." Rin moved the knife in her hand above Skyrah's hand, who looked down in uncertainty. Rin slowly and gently tried to scratch away what Skyrah had originally thought was nail polish, only to get the sound of metal on metal in her ears. "That's actually pretty cool, considering it's not replacing your limbs anymore."

Skyrah nodded, gripping her fist a few times, feeling out her power.

"I don't feel any weaker, if anything I feel a little stronger." She said, looking Rin in the eyes with a genuine smile on her face.

"That's good, we basically had to run out that Doctor, he wanted to stay around and monitor your every move, but Leone said you wouldn't be very comfortable with that." Rin laughed. "That guy was a little strange, anyways."

"Leone was right." Skyrah fell into a fighting pose, narrowing her eyes and furrowing her brow for a moment. Suddenly she looked like she realized something. "I wonder how strong I'll be with Limit Break now." She looked down at herself with a grin.

"STOP." Rin grabbed Skyrah's wrist. "Leone said you'd do that, go do it outside where you have some space."

Skyrah took off down the hallways with Rin following close behind, looking for some kind of exit. Eventually she burst through a door that led outside to what looked like their old training grounds Night Raid had when she first arrived. Tatsumi and Mine were out there, both training their toned bodies as always.

"Guys, I-" Skyrah tripped over a single wooden step, falling face first down into the dirt floor of the training grounds.

"Skyrah, hold on, you don't know how this is going to affect you." Rin said, helping the elated girl to her feet. Mine and Tatsumi were snickering at how she had fallen. "Hold off testing yourself, you still haven't fully recovered from your fight with Ava."

"Which is exactly why I have to get back to training!" Skyrah exclaimed. "Don't worry, this is just a little stress test!"

Mine released a laugh. "I don't think you understand how Skyrah works, Rin." She said, watching with amusement as Skyrah walked herself to the middle of the grounds. "You'd probably have to break her legs to stop her from training."

Skyrah bent her knees just a little and flexed her body for a moment.

"500 percent!"


	31. Chapter 31: Kill the Roar

**Chapter 31**

 **Kill the Roar**

Deep underneath the Capital city of Japan, a sinister experiment had reached it's final stages of development. Created from the prototypes of James Rhys and using the technology that Dorothea Bonnet invented using her own Teigu, the device was crafted by some of the most powerful and evil minds in the country. This brand new piece of machinery was designed to revive the dead, yet only with a human sacrifice. With any remains of any dead body, even a strand of hair, anything that still had remnants of DNA on it, the device was able to completely restore the body of the dead, using the sacrifice as a host of sorts. The only negative effect of the device was the revived would be extremely weak minded, memories could only be vaguely recalled, and could be altered with only a little psychological development.

Nothing like this had ever been even remotely discussed, it was considered taboo, even by the First Emperor to create anything that could revive the dead. But this would be this criminal organization's best shot at taking down the joint operation of Night Raid and the Jaegers.

Black Council, a name unbeknownst to the citizens that resided in the Capital, but would soon be feared worldwide, had created the machine in order to eliminate all members of Night Raid, in a very specific way that would impact and discourage them so greatly they wouldn't even fight back. They would not reanimate powerful people like Devil's Core, but rather some faces familiar to the members of the assassination group.

"It's ready." A scientist donning a stereotypical white lab coat said as he arose from his place at his desk, where he had been tapping away at his keyboard for hours before that. His round, sad face was characterized by the ever-so-present dark bags under his eyes, and the deep horizontal wrinkle across his forehead that only disappeared when his eyes were closed.

A green glow from the half a dozen closet sized, glass cylinders with various wires and tubes protruding from the metal tops and bottoms of the machines reflected in his lifeless grey eyes, as the beings inside moved around, the light changed directions and shined on his greasy white hair and patchy goatee.

Doctor pressed a button on his keyboard without even looking down at it, he had been longing for this moment for months, recited it thousands of times in his head, now it was finally here. The scene was set, and he had just successfully revived the dead.

The murky, thick liquid the now struggling bodies were in slowly drained until they were all lying at the bottoms of their respective tubes, coughing and spluttering as air rushed into their lungs.

"I've done it."

Leone's applause was cut short as she saw a carriage rolling down the dirt path towards their base, she knew who was in the carriage, the others didn't. She stood from her seat, walking down onto the training grounds and stopped beside Akame and Kurome, who both snapped to attention on the carriage, awaiting any order from their new leader.

The soldier driving the carriage knocked on the roof and almost instantly the door opened, followed by a man and a woman stepping out. Both wore similar armored outfits; bracers, leggings, chest and shoulder plates all coated in a shiny silver armor that had seen its share of battle. The cloth under their armor was black and a leathery brown.

They approached slowly, stopping a few feet from where Leone stood.

The man stood about a full foot taller than Leone, his defined muscles looked like they were struggling to break free from his armor, the long brown hair on his head was tied back in a ponytail, showing off the scar that led from the bottom of his right cheek to his bright blue eyes.

The woman at his side was a bit shorter than him and much less muscular, but the trio of swords on her back made no one doubt her strength. Her blonde hair was cut just under her ears, her face was clear of any scars or blemishes and actually had a smile on it.

"It's nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Leone." She said with a blush.

"Likewise, Sarah." Leone nodded in approval, getting an even bigger smile out of the woman called Sarah. She then turned to the man, nodding. "Ymir."

"Ymir?" Akame whispered to herself, thinking about the name before coming to a realization.

"Who's that?" Tatsumi asked, leaning over to her.

Akame felt a hint of fear in her heart. "He's the man who inherited Esdeath's Teigu, he used to be the strongest member in the Revolutionary Army." She explained, turning to him. "He was supposed to join Night Raid years back, but the night Leone and I found you Najenda didn't show any more interest in him."

Tatsumi was in shock, that man was the strongest in the entire army? Just how powerful was he, and why was he here? Were they both going to be new members?

Ymir didn't answer Leone with words, only a nod. She smiled kindly, but his expression was stagnant and emotionless. His eyes flicked over to Akame as she approached, followed by Fox and Tatsumi. He narrowed his eyes at the girl, but she tried to ignore it.

"Even _she_ is here." Sarah was giddy as she met eyes with Akame.

"Akame, this is Sarah, the leader of the new Cobalt Roar." Leone said as Sarah and Akame shook hands.

The present members of Night Raid were in shock just from hearing the name of the team Rhys and Fox used to be a part of.

"Wha-what?!" Fox took a step back.

Akame was beginning to feel uncomfortable, she could feel Ymir's eyes boring into the side of her head as she refused to make eye contact with him. He either had a question for her, or he was just shamelessly checking out _taken_ merchandise. If Skyrah was there, his face would have been in the dirt.

Sarah gave a little laugh. "After Cobalt Roar was destroyed, only Night Raid remained to carry out special operations. Now with such an influx of jobs to do, it was reformed to take some of the pressure off of you all." She explained. "Especially after you guys got so popular in the public eye."

The way she said it sounded like an insult to Fox. She could sense an underlying sarcasm with the remark, the hair on her tail stood on end, feeling danger from the two before her.

"We understand your position Fox." Sarah's eyes turned over to meet with Fox's. "We were informed about your position in Cobalt Roar, and that's why we wanted to give you an opportunity to join us." She held out a hand.

Fox shook her head almost instantly. "I belong here, Cobalt Roar is in my past, not my future." She decided. Getting a little sigh and nod out of Sarah.

"I understand." She said, crossing her arms.

Akame finally met eyes with Ymir, who didn't break his gaze with her.

"What are you looking at?" She spat, getting the attention of the others.

Ymir blinked for what seemed like the first time since he had been there.

"Skyrah." He muttered, his eyes seeming to catch ablaze.

"Ymir, not now." Sarah ordered, pointing back to the carriage.

Ymir followed her arm with his eyes, flashing his angry eyes at his leader before finally walking back to the carriage and entering it.

"What was that about?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'm sure you all know about Ymir, what Teigu he got…" She said slowly, turning back to them and getting a nod. "He was there with you all when the West attacked, when Esdeath was killed, her Teigu left her body and soaked into the ground. After the battle, Ymir was among the debris and found it." She lowered her head, her eyes darkening. "He said it called to him, with the voice of a woman he had never heard or seen, and forced itself into his body."

"What?" Leone was at a loss of words.

"You've never seen someone's personality take such a turn." Sarah's fists were clenched. "We've been partners since we were kids, he was always loud and proud of his accomplishments, but now he hardly speaks or listens to anyone but me." She had a tear in her eye, but it was wiped away. "He says that he still hears that woman's voice, trying to take over his body, but he won't allow her to."

"So why was he so interested in me and Skyrah?" Akame asked, crossing her arms.

"He blames her for what happened to him, he thinks if Skyrah hadn't killed her, he wouldn't be the way he is." She explained, looking back up at the group with a dead serious expression on her face. "He has been training non-stop to become stronger than her, and he wants to prove it."

"Sorry to break it to you, but she isn't here." Akame said quickly. "She hasn't been here for the past few hours."

"Oh?" Sarah inquired. "Where's she gone off to?"

Akame sighed. "That's classified." She said, turning back to Leone for a moment, who nodded at her. When she turned back to Sarah, she wore a frown on her face. "You may be Cobalt Roar, but we're still Night Raid."

Sarah nodded with a sigh. "I get it." She turned to Leone. "When she does get back, I'd like to be here waiting for her, I have many things to discuss with her."

"You won't be waiting for long." Leone had a little smirk on her face.

Skyrah burst out of the edge of the forest, rolling and sliding backwards, still facing the treeline. Blood was splattered across her body, the blood of the bandits she had inevitably come across and killed.

"Come on, we got her cornered!" Four men came jumping out of the woods behind her and into the clearing. The four men were so focused on fighting the girl that had eliminated their whole group they failed to notice the gathering of assassins on the other end of the clearing.

Skyrah flipped backwards, dodging a huge glaive weapon swung at her. Just as she landed another man swung his long katana at her legs, which she promptly jumped over, crossing her arms in mid-air.

The young assassin continued her fight with her arms crossed, using her feet to block and parry the varied attacks the men assaulted her with. After a few more dodges they all came to a halt, heaving for air, still focused on the unscathed Skyrah.

"Tired?" Skyrah asked, her eyes bright and excited.

While one of the bandits turned tail and ran, the biggest man charged forward, raising his axe above his head. Skyrah suddenly shot forward, driving her fist through his chest and out of his back, killing him instantly. She spun on one foot, throwing the dead man on top of one of his companions then pounced on the other man like a wild animal, bringing down both of her clenched fists on his head and crushing his skull.

Just as the last bandit got out from under his friend, Skyrah spun again, raising her leg up and smashing right into his throat, collapsing his windpipe then sending her other foot into his chest, launching him across the clearing.

Sarah watched incredulously at the fervor of her attacks. Everything about how she fought was intense.

Ymir exited his carriage, beginning his walk over to where Skyrah was standing, looking off into the forest.

"Ymir, don't!" Sarah shouted, but he continued to walk with no hesitation.

Skyrah suddenly leaned to the left and an explosion happened behind her less than a second later.

From the forest came the bandit that had run away a minute before, rolling along what looked to be a military cannon, pointed right at Skyrah.

"How the fuck did you dodge that?!" He shouted in frustration.

Skyrah took a deep breath, pressing her right fist against her left open palm. Without warning she was right behind the man, her hand already gripping the back of his head and slamming it down into the side of the cannon, caving in his face.

Sarah and Ymir's eyes were wide in shock. Skyrah made her way back to the group, taking a breath and putting her hands on her hips as she stopped in front of them both.

"Who're you guys?" She asked, wiping a splash of blood from her face.

Sarah took a moment, but eventually shook her head and outstretched her hand. "I'm Sarah, this is Ymir, we were in the Capital when you guys took on Devil's Core." She explained, getting a smile out of Skyrah. "The new government sent us here to introduce ourselves, we're going to be working alongside you all as a reformed Cobalt Roar."

Skyrah raised her eyebrow. "Does that mean you'll be staying here?" She asked with a slight frown.

"No, no, we have our own headquarters set up for the team." Sarah rambled on, she had never been so close to Skyrah, and she could physically feel a pressure in the air around her. She turned to Ymir, who glared down at Skyrah with hateful eyes. "My friend, Ymir, has something to ask you, if you would please hear him out."

Ymir took a step forward, standing right in front of Skyrah, looking down at the much shorter girl.

"How tall are you?" He asked, almost surprised at her height now that they were face-to-face, in a sense.

"She's 5'2."Mine and Akame both shouted in unison, making Skyrah raise her eyebrow again at her two comrades. Both knew Skyrah didn't like to be questioned about her height, she hadn't grown even a little in height since they had all met when she was still a teenager

"Why?" Skyrah finally questioned, looking up at him with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"It doesn't matter." He shook his head, glaring at her once again. "I want to fight you."

Skyrah pursed her lips, smirking a little. "Nah, I'm busy today." She said, walking beside him and smiling at her friends from Night Raid.

"It wasn't a question!" Ymir turned around in frustration, swiping his hand down at Skyrah and slapping her across the face by accident, not having noticed she had turned around.

The world grew eerily silent as Skyrah recoiled from the slap, bringing her hand to her face in surprise.

"I don't care if you're busy." Ymir continued, gritting his teeth. "You're going to fight me."

Skyrah looked up into his eyes. "Fine." She spoke with no emotion. "Let's see what you got."

Leone frowned. "Skyrah. Don't lose your temper."

"I'm fine, Sis." Skyrah spat, walking a little bit away from the group and waiting for Ymir.

When he found his place a few meters away from her, he fell into a fighting stance, while Skyrah simply stood, glaring at him.

"Don't be so cocky, kid." He said, ice building in his hand until it created a jagged sword. "I'm going to show you the strength Esdeath never could."

"Begin." Sarah said.

Without warning, Ymir began shouting at the top of his lungs, his power exploding around him, tearing up the grass below him. When he stopped shouting, the pressure stopped and he grinned wide.

"Ever seen something like this?" He asked, proud of his maximum strength.

"Is that it?" Skyrah asked, making him furious. "You're barely above Caesar."

Ymir swiped his blade in the air, as if to cut away her words. "Don't underestimate me, you just showed me your power against those four men!" He shouted. "This is that, and more!"

"So... What?" Skyrah questioned. "You trying to scare me off?"

Ymir smirked. "Just showing you what you're up against, it's okay to be scared."

"500 percent."

The pressure that exploded around Skyrah shook everything around them. The ground beneath her broke apart and floated upwards, an intense wind spun around her, picking up dirt and more of the now crushed ground. She stood in the center of all the mayhem with a frown on her face and a killer look in her eyes.

"Wh-what?" Ymir took a few steps back, his eyes wide in shock and fear.

"I'm just showing you what you're up against, there's no need to be scared." Skyrah said, taking a few steps towards the terrified man.

"Stop!" Ymir called out, raising his hands in a surrender. "I surrender!"

Skyrah smirked. "100 percent." The howling winds and huge pressure all dissipated. She walked past him, refusing to make eye contact, but smiled when she reached her friends, who turned and followed her inside, leaving their leader with the new members of Cobalt Roar.

The experiment had been an overwhelming success to all who participated in it. People who had been long since dead had been brought back to life with the power of technology, and would continue to be brought back to life until Night Raid met their bitter end.

Only one real side effect had been made apparent to the scientists behind the project. Psychologists who had been part of the project had warned then of damages to the mind when they were revived, but it was much different than they originally anticipated. Memories had been erased, but others had stuck around. Violent, angry, evil memories were all that remained in their minds, and their personality had shaped around it.

This would not slow his plans though, the leader of Black Council wanted them to attack soon, so that's what they would do.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I apologize for taking such a long break from posting this story! I had a bad sense of writer's block but I finally have planned out the next ten or so chapters of this story. I will try to remain focused on this whilst also working out my own, personal life.**

 **To answer one of the most recent questions some of you have asked, I don't exactly know how powerful Sasuke is in the Naruto/Shippuden universe, and scaling one of my own characters within another fully developed universe is a lot more difficult than you would think. Skyrah has become more than a little OP in the Akame ga Kill! Universe, this is intentional, but I have also scaled up characters to match her. Akame and Skyrah are nearly even in my own powerscaling as of right now, with Akame having a small edge. I'm sorry if that doesn't exactly answer your question, but it's really all I've got.**


	32. Chapter 32: Kill the Revived

**Chapter 32**

 **Kill the Revived**

Skyrah felt nearly blind as she followed behind a much faster Akame on the moonless night. Multiple disturbances had been reported that night and it was their mission to find out what was going on, and simply put an end to it. Apparently a younger woman had been snatched right from her balcony and whisked away into the night. It was something that sounded like a fairytale, but wasn't all too unrealistic from the things they had seen in the past year.

The black sky and lack of street lamps would make a kidnapping all the more easier for an experienced criminal. Skyrah caught Akame's red eyes peering back at her for a split second, but when she looked to meet them the veteran assassin had already turned back around. This was Skyrah's first real mission, not just an order to hunt and kill, and she could feel the pressure from her peers.

They arrived at the scene of the kidnapping within a few minutes, pulling up their hoods to hide their faces. Very fine, almost metallic strings hung from the overhang on the balcony where a distraught mother and father stood awaiting Night Raid's arrival.

"Tell us exactly what you remember." Akame demanded coldly, clearly noticing the strings.

The father ushered his sobbing wife inside, closing the door behind him before standing up tall.

"Her mother and I were waiting for her to finish her chores when we heard a scream. We rushed out to the balcony but she was already gone." He explained, pointing to the strings scattered around them. "We know it was a younger man, he had green hair and eyes, with some red goggles on the top of his hea-"

Akame grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up and pinning him into a wall.

"Akame!" Skyrah tried to intervene, but was kicked back by a furious Akame.

"Do you think that's funny?!" She roared in the man's face, utterly terrifying him. "Is this some kind of sick joke to you?!" The man's heart was pounding against his chest.

"Wha-what?" He asked in confusion.

"That's my dead friend you're talking about, bastard!" She shouted, her hood falling off and revealing her face.

Skyrah had seen Akame lose her temper, and knew exactly how scary she could be, but this was on another level.

Akame reared her fist back, ready to strike the man before her.

"That's a new side of you, Akame." A voice said behind them.

Winry turned around just as the moon found it's way out from behind the clouds, blurring out the silhouette of the green eyed young man standing on the roof a few feet behind the two assassins.

Akame dropped the man and turned around, her red eyes wide with sadness.

"Yo." Lubbock said with a little grin. "How've you been?"

His smile was enough to bring tears to Akame's eyes. She dove off of the balcony, tackling him in a hug, pinning him down on the ground.

"Lubbock!" She sobbed uncontrollably, her tears were not only of sadness, but of joy. Skyrah felt a sharp pain in her heart, not knowing the history between the two. All she saw was her girlfriend being nearly affectionate to a man.

Akame's happy moment was suddenly dashed away as a long blade slid through her abdomen, cutting off her cries and laughter.

"You let me die." He said in anger. "I was tortured because of you bastards."

Akame was pushed off of him, allowing him to stand and brush himself off, ripping out his blade constructed of strings by the device on his hands.

Skyrah let out a whimper of pain and fear from behind, making Akame turn for just long enough to see fine little wires wrapped around her throat and wrists, not yet cutting into her, but coming dangerously close. Lubbock noticed the wide-eyed look on Akame's face and grinned.

"So who's this, huh?" Lubbock asked, stalking over to the hooded Skyrah. He raised his hand quickly and launched a dart that shot through the skull of the man whom Akame had just been talking to, killing him instantly. "Judging by the height it's probably little old Mine under there… Good to see she hasn't grown at all."

The green haired man ripped back Skyrah's hood, revealing a face he had never seen before.

"Oh, a replacement." He deadpanned, looking her over with lusty eyes. "Now what's your name, doll?"

Akame slammed her fist to the ground. "Don't you touch her!" She spat through grit teeth.

Skyrah stared helplessly into the eyes of her captor. Even breathing caused resistance on the wire around her throat, she couldn't move an inch if she wanted to keep her life.

"Oh… I won't touch her Akame." Lubbock said, placing his hand over her breasts and caressing them, causing her to whine in discomfort and grief. "I lied, but that's not as bad as the people who lied about saving me." He glared into her eyes as he spoke, seeing the sadness appear in her crimson eyes.

"Stop." Skyrah whispered, receiving a slap across the face almost instantly. He smiled as her face twisted into anger, then slapped her again, and again, and again.

Akame grabbed Lubbock's ankle, pulling herself towards him on the ground. She used the brief moment he was looking away from her to slide Murasame under Skyrah's feet.

He looked down at her, smiling like he knew exactly what he was doing to Akame.

"How long has she been around?" He asked, grinning maniacally. "I hope you were counting the days, because this is where the number ends."

"Skyrah!" Akame shouted.

Skyrah pulled her foot up, slinging Murasame up and quickly grabbing it, not moving her wrist as she spun it in her palm, cutting away the binding wires around her wrists, then her neck, and finally bulldozed past Lubbock, grabbing Akame by the arm and pulling her over the edge of the balcony. Skyrah twisted so Akame landed right on top of her as they impacted the ground, knocking the wind out of the both of them and leaving them side by side on the road.

Jumping from the balcony, he constructed a sledgehammer and swung it over his head down at Akame's chest.

Skyrah pulled Akame away from the attack, throwing her to the side of the road and pulling her body back, slamming her fist into Lubbock's ribs, pushing him back a few meters.

"Tell me now. Who are you?" She demanded as he regained his balance and stood up straight.

He grinned, spreading out his arms and showing off the sharp metal claws on the ends of his repaired Teigu.

"Just an old friend." He said, rushing forward and slashing his hand at Skyrah's face, just barely missing and taking off a few strands of hair as she jolted back.

She shot forward, slashing the air where her new enemy used to be. Her instincts took over and she ducked, feeling the air from his arm missing yet another attack above her crouched body. Somehow he had moved all the way behind her.

Skyrah flexed her body and sent back her elbow, hearing and feeling one of his ribs crack from the sheer force her elbow applied on his body. She spun around and used her momentum to push her fist into his face.

He rebalanced himself and took a few steps back, ready to block or parry her next attack, but she didn't allow her emotions to carry her. She was calm, ready for any attack.

"Stupid girl." Lubbock said, jerking his right arm to the side.

Previously invisible strings yanked on Skyrah's arm, cutting through her sleeve with ease, but stopping right as it cut through the first layer of her skin. His Teigu kept trying to reel in, not making any progress in taking off her arm like he had intended. Her eyes were still locked on him as she planted her feet in the ground, pulling back against the force of the strings.

"Wh-what?!" He cried in shock as she rotated her arm, using her it to wrap the strings around and pull him closer to her. "That should cut right through your arm!"

Skyrah grit her teeth, she didn't know how it hadn't cut through her, but she knew it had something to do with Loputon Voima. Her right hand finally gripped onto the strings and pulled him off of his feet towards her. She raised her knee directly into his lower jaw, hearing him crunch down on his own teeth, before striking him across the head with her free hand.

Lubbock let the strings snap and stumbled backwards, giving Skyrah just enough time to rush towards him, lowering her shoulder and slamming into him. He wrapped his hands around her neck, pulling her down with him.

The green haired assassin rose first, pinning Skyrah down by holding his left hand against her throat, while using his right hand to grope her chest further, much to her and Akame's dismay.

"Disappointing, I thought a tough girl like you would be a bit bustier." He grinned, blood dripping from the top of his head down onto her face that had been scraped from the fall.

"Fuck… you." She croaked out, sending a swift jab right into his nose and breaking it, making him howl in pain as he jumped off of her.

Akame was suddenly right beside him, slashing her sword right at the side of his neck. Just as she was sure she could kill him, her blade stopped cold, centimeters away from cutting into him. Her eyes were wide and terrified, she had never hesitated when killing someone, but in this moment she did more than just hesitate, she froze in fear. Fear of losing a friend.

Lubbock took his opening and slashed his hand at her, scratching his attachable claws across the right side of her neck, not going deep enough to draw too much blood. But enough to make her back away and allow him time to run in the opposite direction.

There was no way he could possibly stand up against Akame and Skyrah, even through his rage of seeing the person who allowed him to be tortured, he knew that.

Akame and Skyrah both collapsed in exhaustion, staring up into the starry night sky, bleeding on the concrete underneath them and breathing heavily.

"What the hell is going on?!" Akame slammed her fist into the ground, cracking the hardened earth. "Is this a nightmare?" Her voice was doubtful, almost scared.

"No, this is no dream." Skyrah answered, slowly getting to her feet. "Come on, we need to get you back." She dropped to one knee and picked Akame up, rising again with the injured assassin in her arms.

"H-hello?! Daddy?!" A barely clothed younger woman came rushing out of the darkness, minuscule cuts and slices all over her body. Something was shining around her neck, holding tight on the skin.

Skyrah's eyes followed the string back into the darkness behind her, where it glinted off the little light the night sky gave them. Her blood ran cold.

"Wait! Stop!" She shouted in a panic.

The girl's body was suddenly stopped and her head kept going, a clean slice had decapitated her in a moment, Skyrah watched in horror as the hopeful eyes of the girl went dull as her life ended in a few milliseconds. Blood and innards rose from her body, pressing against the open wound where her head used to be, pooling on the ground and sliding into the cracks on the ground. Her head rolled to Skyrah's feet, making her whole body seize in disgust and horror.

A string floated for a few moments before being reeled back into the darkness, followed by the sound of footsteps running away.

"See you around, Akame!" Lubbock yelled, getting a longer distance away from them

"You bastard!" Skyrah shouted in anger.

Just as civilians began to pour out of their homes, Skyrah took off in the direction of their headquarters, where the whole team of assassins awaited their arrival in a panic, fearing the worst for their friends.

Akame felt a chill run up her spine as she was jolted from sleep. She could have swore she heard Skyrah's voice. Looking around the room, she was now sure she was alone. With a sigh, she laid back down in her bed, running her hand across the cold spot beside her, it was made for the both of them, but she was the only one to occupy it for the past seven months. A warmth in her body brought up lusty thoughts into her brain, making her run her hands all over her body.

" _See you around, Akame!"_

The voice echoed in her brain, bringing her thoughts to a grinding halt.

Was that a real memory? Or was it just a dream she had?

"Fuck…" Akame winced as she ran her finger over the bandages that covered half of her abdomen. It wasn't a dream, after all, she had ran into the real Lubbock. "How…? Why...?" She questioned no one.

She leaned up, instantly feeling pain course through her veins like electricity. With a groan, she pushed through the pain and sat up, stepping gingerly out of the bed onto the floor, trying to keep any weight off of her abdomen. She managed to put on a big red robe over her undergarments and slipped on some white fluffy rabbit slippers Skyrah had bought her on a date after Akame had complained about her feet hurting.

She took soft steps as she exited the room and made her way down the halls. Akame raised and eyebrow, it wasn't very often she couldn't hear people working outside, but not a noise was coming from outside, but instead from the inside. Pressing on, she made her way downstairs and into the dining area, finding the most of Night Raid gathered around the table around a little radio, only three seats empty. Skyrah's, Mine's, and her own.

They all looked up to her, all with serious looks in their eyes.

"You've been in and out for three days." Leone said, looking like she had a bit of sadness in her eyes. "We know everything, Skyrah informed us."

"How are you feeling?" Mine asked.

Kurome crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "She's tough." She said, opening one eye and watching her sister. "Aren't you sis?"

Akame nodded, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. She didn't remember anything from the past three days. If she really had been awake like Leone said, she didn't remember anything. "What happened while I was out?"

Eyes dashed and darted across the table. Uncomfortable looks were on the faces of all members.

"They… Got bold." Leone said slowly. "They killed Ymir, almost killed Sarah and the new members of Cobalt Roar."

" _They_?" Akame asked, narrowing her eyebrows. "What do you mean _they_?"

Tatsumi looked up from the table, meeting eyes with Akame. "It's not just Lubbock, there are more. Five more." He said, seeing the shock in her eyes.

"Who?" Akame growled. Not a single person spoke, everyone seemed to be waiting for someone else to tell her. She slammed her fist into the table, shaking everything resting atop it and making the radio come to life, filling the silence with static. "Who?!"

"Isn't that just the big mystery?"

A girl Akame hadn't seen in years stepped out from behind a corner, she felt her blood run cold and her heart skip a beat. It was unlike any feeling she had ever felt, the auburn/red hair, deep pink eyes, the classic outfit she had worn years before, it all sent a chill up Akame's spine.

Chelsea smiled, popping the sucker out of her mouth and watching Akame.

"Been awhile, hasn't it?" She asked, her voice, body, eyes, everything were exactly like they had been more than 3 years ago. "You've changed less than I thought."

"H-how are you…?" Akame struggled to wrap her head around the situation. The girl standing before her was definitely real, no doubt about it.

"I don't really understand either." Chelsea admitted, scratching her neck. "But the others aren't all here." She pointed to her head and tapped on it a few times to accentuate her point.

"What others?" Akame asked. Everyone around her remained silent.

"Lubbock, whom you've already met, Bulat, Sheele, Seryu, and I." Chelsea held up a sixth finger, but quickly put it down and acted like she didn't.

"Don't hide it from her. She deserves to know." Leone said, looking over to the other members of Night Raid. Two of them had their own pain they were dealing with. Tatsumi and Wave refused to speak at all and looked like they were nearly about to cry.

"And…" Chelsea looked up into Akame's eyes. "I've heard a few stories from Tatsumi about your girlfriend, what she's gone through…"

"Esdeath is _alive_." Leone spat, gritting her teeth.

Akame felt like her whole life had been pulled out from under her. How? How were these people, the friends she had lost, and the enemies she had worked so long to defeat, alive once more, and worse than that, violent towards them?

"Where is Skyrah?" Akame asked.

Leone shrugged. "When Chelsea told her about Esdeath, she walked out." She looked up into Akame's eyes. "She's down by the river, where me and you first trained, Mine is down there talking to her right now."

Akame nodded, then turned to Chelsea and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, if the others are so angry with us, why are you so calm then?" Akame interrogated.

Chelsea sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't really know, but I'm the only one."

"How do we know that?" Akame's eyes were sharp, even with her injured body, she knew she was capable of fighting. "You could be faking it."

Chelsea looked offended, but quickly smiled faintly. "Before I died in that field of flowers, I thought about how much I had fallen in love with Tatsumi." She said slowly, making Tatsumi physically recoil in confusion. "I remember when I first arrived at the base with Susanoo. I remember playing pranks on Mine out of jealousy for not being as close to Tatsumi. And when Lubbock and Tatsumi tried to peek on me when I was bathing." She said with tears in her eyes. "But I also remember being cut down, feeling my fingers and arm detach from my body, the feeling of steel slicing through my neck and decapitating me." She ran her fingers across her neck, where not even the remnants of a wound could be seen.

Everyone had the same shocked expression, even Kurome looked sorry for what she had done, she tried to look Chelsea in the eyes, as if trying to apologize for what she had done, but the ex-assassin refused to make eye contact.

"I can remember my whole life, the good and bad, what makes me who I am." Chelsea's voice didn't as much as shiver as she spoke, but tears rolled down her cheeks. "The others can only remember their darkest, most brutal moments, they don't have an ounce of happiness in their bodies unless they are fighting, like ghosts of their former selves." She explained.

Akame took a deep breath, then latched onto Chelsea in a hug, shocking her revived comrade.

"I'm sorry." Akame said slowly. "I'm so sorry for what happened, that we weren't there to help."

Kurome stood from her seat, her eyes locked on the floor and her bangs covering most of her face.

"Chelsea." She tried, standing a few feet behind the woman she killed years ago.

Akame and Chelsea separated, but the auburn-haired girl didn't turn around. "What do you want?"

"To go outside." Kurome's eyes were dull as she looked up. "And settle this."

Chelsea turned around, her eyes full of rage. "Excuse me?"

Wave grabbed Kurome's wrist, but she pulled away. "Kurome-"

"Shut up, Wave." Kurome glared at Chelsea with nothing short of a murderous look in her eyes. "You heard me."

Chelsea grinned, crushing the sucker in her mouth and spitting out the stick. "Let's go then."

Leone and the others tried to hold them back, but they eventually ended up outside, glaring at each other from across the training grounds.

"Stop it, both of you!" Tatsumi shouted. "Are you two joking?"

Chelsea charged at Kurome, swinging her fists wildly and knocking around Kurome like an older sibling to her younger.

"Stop!" Leone shouted in a rage.

"No!" Chelsea backlashed, focusing on her fight.

Every single attack had hit, Kurome had taken every single one of them without even trying to dodge. Her face, chest, stomach, legs, she didn't even look like she cared if she got hit, despite her bloodied lip, nose and the cut above her eyebrow that was streaming down into her eye.

Chelsea reared her fist back as far as she could and hit Kurome right in the center of the face, knocking her back on her bottom and stopping.

"Kurome isn't attacking…" Mine was confused. "Is she just testing Chelsea out?"

Akame nodded. "I get it." She said, watching how Kurome wobbled as she got up. "She's holding back and allowing Chelsea to pummel her…"

Chelsea kicked, punched, and slapped Kurome around the training grounds, absolutely dominating her in a fury unlike she had ever shown.

"... Kurome killed her, and is allowing Chelsea to take out her anger on her." Akame finished.

All the others noticed it now too.

Kurome took punch after punch, kick after kick, scratch, slap, knee, elbow, it didn't matter to her. This was the only way she could stop feeling so guilty, especially with Chelsea being at the base now and them not speaking even once. It took every ounce of restraint she had not to fight back, but she allowed it until her body refused to get back up from the ground she had been put down to so many times.

Her heart pounded, she could feel blood running down her face and bruises already forming on her beaten body. Wave was being held back by Tatsumi to not step in,

Chelsea finally stopped, heaving for breath and waiting for Kurome to get back up.

"Get... up." She grunted, gathering herself. "Get up so I can put you back down."

Kurome felt a tear fall from the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said.

Chelsea froze. "W-what…?" She questioned, her voice softening.

Kurome sat up. "If you want to keep beating on me… Then I'll get back up until I can't move anymore." She groaned as she stood, splaying out her arms. "Just know how much I regret it… And how sorry I am…" She stared into Chelsea's eyes with passion.

Chelsea approached Kurome hesitantly, but placed a finger on Kurome's forehead and applied a little bit of pressure, pushing the girl back down to the ground and watching her try her best to get back up.

"Pathetic." Chelsea said, kicking the one-armed assassin while she was down. "You're lucky I still have a little bit of pity left."

Kurome couldn't help but smile through the pain, she had done exactly what she had wanted. Although this alone wouldn't gain Chelsea's trust, it made a point and let the red haired girl get her pent up anger out.

Akame gave a little smile before turning around and heading inside. She was proud of her sister, more proud than she had been in a long time.

But now she had a different challenge, Esdeath had returned, and Skyrah would undoubtedly go after him again.


	33. Chapter 33: Kill The Rival

**Chapter 33**

 **Kill the Rival**

Skyrah wriggled her toes in the cool pond water, focusing intently on the water rather than on what was gnawing at the back of her mind. Mine was sitting next to her, simply waiting for her to say something in response to what she had been saying, despite her usual behavior, she was surprisingly patient whilst talking to her friend and comrade. The pink-haired assassin knew how she was feeling, Esdeath was not the only rival that had returned from the dead. Seryu was among them as well, and while Tatsumi tried to ignore it, Mine was just trying to keep a level head, something she hadn't done for the most of her life.

Mine knew she couldn't lose her cool around Skyrah, it didn't work to yell at her or be impatient, Akame had shown this many times before when trying to calm her down.

Looking her over, she was clearly deep in her own thoughts, trying to manage the situation. Ava's presence certainly wasn't helping with any of this, especially after Skyrah and the most of Night Raid was convinced she had died in the Capital. She was not only haunted by Esdeath's revival, but of the intense power Ava could unleash on them.

"I'm not sure I could have won." Skyrah said, breaking the silence.

Mine shifted her body, leaning over and pulling Skyrah's chin up, making them look into each other's eyes. "You did win though."

Mine had been talking about her friend's fight in the Capital, she had killed Caesar, but Ava was much more resilient than they had originally thought.

"Without Rin's Teigu, I mean…" Skyrah mumbled, looking back towards the pond. "Now it's useless to all of us." She very clearly felt bad about destroying the Teigu, even though it wasn't really her that did it.

"Loputon Voima is stronger than ever, you wouldn't have trouble with her now, you probably don't even have to try with-" Mine cut herself off, looking away.

"Don't do that." Skyrah grit her teeth. "Just say her name, it's not going to hurt me." She said, standing up and gripping her fists.

Mine smiled and picked herself up. Skyrah was strong, she could get through this with them.

The duo walked silently back towards the hideout, weaving through the dense wooded area, trying to keep each other in sight so they didn't get lost.

Mine struggled to see Skyrah for a few moments, she ducked under a few low-hanging trees and tried to find the girl again. When she eventually saw her, Skyrah suddenly stop walking, snapping her head to the left, her eyes locking onto something through the woods. She looked uncertain for a moment, then began to turn around, looking around like a predator looking for it's prey.

"Skyrah?" Mine grunted, pushing through a bush and walking up beside her.

Skyrah looked dead at Mine, eyes wide, then turned around and darted away, leaving Mine to chase her through the woods. Minutes passed before they arrived at the headquarters, where Akame and Skyrah stood a few meters away from each other, Akame cautiously watching her girlfriend.

"Whoa, what's wrong, girls?" Mine questioned, seeing a furious look on Skyrah's face.

"Mine, get behind me. Now." Akame said, ushering Mine over to her. "That's not Skyrah."

Mine raised an eyebrow, moving over to Akame, who now had her hand on the hilt of Murasame.

"How are you so sure about that?" Skyrah asked, her voice perfectly matching her own.

"Look at her eyes, Mine." Akame said aloud, making sure the fraud before her would hear. "Also, Skyrah is shorter than me, not the same height. You must be new to this impersonation thing."

Mine felt fear in her heart grow as she saw Skyrah's eyes. Her left was the usual green, but her right eye was a bright amber color. Mine only knew one person with eyes like that.

"Akame, I was told you'd be the hardest to get past, I didn't think it would be like this though." Skyrah said, her body seemed to go out of focus then pop back into reality, revealing not Skyrah, but Seryu Ubiquitous, holding the Teigu that used to belong to Chelsea. "Looks like we'll have to go to plan B."

Rustling in the forest drew the attention of Mine and Akame, where out came walking Skyrah, head hanging low.

"Skyrah!" Mine shouted, not getting a response out of the girl.

"She's not yours anymore, bitch."

Sheele came walking out behind Skyrah, whispering into a microphone that had been previously seen with Cosmina, glaring at Mine in a fury.

"Didn't think you'd see the person you'd abandoned again?" She asked, gritting her teeth, then looking over at Skyrah. "Kill them."

Skyrah raised her head, revealing her dull green eyes.

"Mine, get the others!" Akame shouted just before she was thrown through the side of the hideout by the force of Skyrah's sudden attack.

Mine darted inside, drawing the attention of all Night Raid members.

Just before she could say anything, Akame's body came smashing through the floor from underneath them, laying on her back for a few moments. Skyrah jumped up through the hall, her eyes locked on Akame.

"Skyrah, stop!" Mine shouted, getting a fist to the side of her face in response, knocking her into the wall.

Akame charged Skyrah with Murasame, further confusing the entirety of Night Raid. The red-eyed assassin spun the sword around in her palm, swinging the dull side of the blade and hitting Skyrah over the head with it.

"Calm down, you two!" Leone shouted.

"Skyrah's being controlled!" Akame screamed back, immediately feeling the force of yet another attack by Skyrah in her core, knocking her through another wall and back outside.

Akame got to her feet just in time to block another punch directed at her head, but failed to parry the knee that was sent into her chin.

"My, my, my!" Seryu clapped her hands, walking over to where Skyrah stood. "She's pretty strong!"

Skyrah kicked up dirt into the eyes of her girlfriend before sweeping her legs and kicking her in the stomach, knocking her up into the sky where she was quickly batted back down to the ground.

"Skyrah…" Akame groaned, pushing herself off the ground on her shaking arms. Just before she was able to get up, Skyrah stomped down onto her back, keeping her down.

"Wake up, idiot!" Mine shouted from the hideout, letting off a huge destructive beam of light at Skyrah, blowing her off of Akame in an instant.

Skyrah slid on the ground, pulling herself back up to a standing position.

"500 percent!" She shouted, letting loose an intense blast of wind and pressure.

Even Seryu and Sheele were shocked by her incredible strength.

Akame threw herself off the ground, firing off like a bullet at Sheele, if she could possibly take out the source, Skyrah might turn back to normal. Sheele only smiled, shouting into her microphone and throwing Akame away with the directed pressure.

The veteran assassin had only a few milliseconds to block before a huge punch from Skyrah batted her away from Sheele. Had she taken the full force of that punch, it probably would have killed her.

Akame turned her blade on herself, cutting across her arm.

"Killing yourself, Akame?!" Sheele broke out in laughter. "What a weakling!"

A black haze built around Akame and red markings appeared across her body, her power exploded around her, she was now even past Skyrah's level.

"Kill her, dammit!" Sheele shouted in frustration.

Skyrah threw herself at Akame, only to get both of her legs kicked out from under her, immediately grounding her. Akame shot upwards and landed hard on Skyrah's back, crushing her into the ground. The brown haired girl pushed up on her, spinning and kicking Akame back near the base.

Akame dodged the next barrage of kicks and punches from her girlfriend by flipping backwards multiple times, eventually reaching the training area, where she pulled a dull bokken from where the other training weapons were, slashing it like a real sword and clubbing Skyrah over the head with it, knocking her back into the ground.

With a few moments to think, Akame sheathed Murasame and threw it aside so she wouldn't have to worry about endangering Skyrah with it.

"Hey, stupid!" Akame shouted down at Skyrah, hitting her over the head again as she tried to get up. "I know you're in there somewhere!"

Without warning Skyrah launched upwards, grabbing Akame and launching over the house, pressing her hand out and pressing off the roof of their base, causing neither of them to hit it.

"Akame. Follow my lead." She whispered as they were still airborne.

Skyrah shrieked in pain, throwing herself away from Akame and crashing into the ground at the feet of Sheele, making her jump away from the flying debris.

Seryu and Mine were in the heat of battle, Mine was utilizing both hand-to-hand combat and ranged with Pumpkin against the girl who had nearly killed her years before.

The others were rushing out of the base, staring in horror at their two strongest members in battle.

"Get up, dammit!" Sheele kicked Skyrah in the head, making her wince in pain, it was already aching worse than ever before. "Get up and kill them!"

Skyrah got to her feet, suddenly feeling a pressure building up from the forest behind her. She tried to ignore it, but it seemed like the closer it got, the temperature continued to drop.

"What is wrong with you?!" Sheele smacked Skyrah upside the head again, receiving a punch to the gut in return, dropping her Teigu. Skyrah immediately picked up the microphone, throwing it over to Akame, who slashed only once with her wooden sword, blowing it to pieces.

Esdeath walked out of the forest, a slight smile on her face. The shocked expressions of everyone lit a fire inside of her, she loved the pain in their eyes, the horror stretching across their faces. Especially Skyrah and Akame's.

"So good to see you all again." She smiled wide. "Did you miss me?"

"Esdeath." Akame mumbled. She knew she was alive, as did all the others, but seeing her standing there was completely different.

Skyrah took a few steps back, stopping beside Mine, who had stopped her fight with Seryu, who had fallen back to Esdeath's side. The silence was intense, Skyrah and Akame's power was incredible, but it had been straining their bodies the whole time.

"100 percent." Skyrah mumbled, her energy dissipating from the air.

"Back on our side now?" Mine elbowed Skyrah in the side.

Skyrah nodded, touching the side of her head and wincing. "Akame hit me over the head pretty good, I think it helped." She smirked. "Thanks for the laser beam, by the way." She rubbed the side of her arm that had taken the full force of the blast.

"Pretty sure you were trying to kill Akame." Mine fired back.

"Touché." Skyrah said, raising her fists at Esdeath.

"Oh, Skyrah." Esdeath acknowledged her, looking her up and down. "You'll be coming with me, darling, I have a gift for you."

"Wha-"

In an instant, Skyrah was frozen solid in a shell of ice just bigger than her.

Akame collapsed, the red marks on her body fading to a light pink. She was heaving for breath, despite her recent boosts of strength, using Murasame's Trump Card was no easy feat, and it drained her in just a few minutes, especially when she wasn't fighting.

Esdeath had somehow calculated this attack, knowing she wouldn't have someone to fight back against her.

Tatsumi took one step forward and Esdeath held up her hand, making the ice glow around Skyrah. "I can kill her at any moment. You might want to step back." She warned.

"Tatsumi, get back." Leone ordered, watching her comrade as he took a few steps back.

"Now. For the two bitches that screwed up my original plan." Esdeath balled up the hand she was holding up and almost instantly a spike of ice shot through the chest of Fox, leaving a gaping hole in the torso of the younger woman.

Before they could even realize what had happened, Esdeath was upon Rin, slashing across her chest with a jagged ice sword, coming only inches from cleaving her completely in half.

Tatsumi screamed out Incursio's name, charging Esdeath and throwing her away from the group before she could do any more damage.

"Esdeath stop!" He shouted, holding his spear up in defense.

"Tatsumi." Esdeath narrowed her eyes. "You could have been so much more than this, but you chose to side with these criminals." She sighed, her eyes full of guilt.

Tatsumi grit his teeth beneath his armor. "You're psychotic!" He shouted. "You know better than that, you worked with us for a full year, we defended the Capital together, and you turned on us!"

Esdeath was upon him within the blink of an eye. "Against an unbeatable offense, I made a decision to save myself." She muttered, sending her knee into his core and kicking him aside.

Leone was next to charge her, activating her Teigu and putting all her strength into one punch, smashing her fist into the side of Esdeath's head and making her slide against the ground, not doing nearly enough to even injure her.

"Stupid cat." Esdeath sent a barrage of ice shards at Leone, slicing into her skin and cutting through her body. The wounds started to heal instantly, but it stopped Leone in her tracks.

"Unbeatable?" Ava walked through the group, pushing past them until she stood right in front of Esdeath. "Lady you are crazy, the little ice cube over there nearly killed me after dismantling you, I underestimated the hell out of these kids, and the people I worked with are all gone now." She explained.

"Without Akame and Skyrah, they're nothing." Esdeath said, raising her sword again, getting ready to cut down the woman before her.

Ava showed no fear, even staring into the face of what could be her death.

"They may be a bunch of stupid kids, but I respect them a hell of alot more than you seem to." Ava continued with a grin. "All of them contributed to that battle, even you, believe it or not."

Esdeath swung her blade down at the grinning Ava, who closed her eyes, accepting death.

She had lived long enough, been through many battles with her own team. Victory was the only expectation she had of herself and the people she led. The first time she felt defeat was the most grueling exercise she had ever experienced, and it was to a bunch of kids, the elite team she had basically lived with was defeated by a bunch of rag-tag assassins. She considered the people that died alongside her friends, but felt nothing as they were ripped from the earth, just like they were not good enough to fight with her.

They worshipped her, but there was no friendship in that, no comradery in the life she lived. Never in her life had she had a true friend, like the people behind her seemed to take so much for granted. Night Raid kept her as what amounted to a prisoner of war, but gave her a place to sleep, worked alongside her, they dragged her out of that cell in the ocean, too.

"Stop!" The sound of flesh being cut made Ava open her eyes, which widened at the sight of Leone's hand gripping Esdeath's sword, which had almost completely cut through her hand. "You said that you wanted a family, not some team of mercenaries!" Leone was shouting at Ava, much to her surprise.

"Wh- what?" Ava stammered, blinking a few times as Leone kicked Esdeath away for a moment.

"Don't throw away a second chance at life!" Leone screamed. "Don't be like her!" She faced Esdeath, then charged in again, smashing her fist into the ice woman again and pushing her even further back.

The members of Night Raid were in a shock at Leone's tenacity, and at the words leaving her mouth. She was giving Ava a second chance?

Seryu rushed Leone from the side, kicking her in the ribs and unleashing an assault of punches all over her injured body.

Mine shot a huge beam from Pumpkin, knocking off Seryu. Esdeath rushed towards her, but the pink haired girl pulled her Teigu to the side, dragging the beam until it met Esdeath, launching her away and burning some of her skin.

"Back off!" Mine shouted while trying to keep Pumpkin firing straight.

The ice that held Skyrah burst apart, making the girl inside collapse instantly. Akame dropped down to her knees and picked the girl up, fearing what could have happened as she touched her freezing cold skin. She pressed the side of her head into Skyrah's chest, focusing hard until she heard the beating heart of her girlfriend.

Chelsea and Kurome rushed to the aid of the two, ushering them inside as Tatsumi, Leone, Mine, and Wave forced Sheele, Seryu, and Esdeath to retreat together. Ava simply followed them inside, her arms hanging limp at her sides as she tried to process what Leone was saying.

"Help Skyrah, I'm fine." Akame said, meeting the eyes of her sister and taking deep breaths. "Just tired, is all." She was lying, her vision was blurry and her head was pounding in pain. Kurome seemed to know this, though.

Her sister shook her head and looked over to Chelsea, who had laid Skyrah down on the large couch and covered her up with a blanket, pulling it tight around her and embracing her, trying to balance out her body heat.

Skyrah almost instantly jerked away, struggling under Chelsea, trying to figure out why she was so cold and couldn't move.

"Calm down, Skyrah." Chelsea cooed sweetly. "Everything's fine, everyone's okay." She continued.

Skyrah slowly stopped struggling and laid her head back, gritting her teeth in pain.

"Not everyone." Kurome felt an intense sadness come over her as Wave carried both Fox and Rin inside, both bleeding non-stop and trying to fight against the pain and shock in their bodies.

"God dammit, stay with me girls." Wave quickly rushed away from them, finding medical supplies and coming back in just a few seconds.

The sounds of Rin and Fox whining and choking as their lungs collapsed was horrifying to everyone inside the building. Tears were flowing from everyone except for Ava, who was looking around in shock.

Everyone was crying. A feeling of dread put weight on her shoulders as she walked over to Wave, looking down into the eyes of the two girls that had no chance of survival. Yet this man still continued to try and help them, vigorously trying to stop the bleeding from Rin and desperately wrapping over the hole that exposed the hardly beating heart of Fox.

"Skyrah, stop." Chelsea had to press down on Skyrah's shoulders to keep her down as she fought against her.

"Rin!" Skyrah shouted with fear in her voice, her eyes were panicked, her whole body was shaking, her eyes were red with tears. "Talk to me, Rin, come on!"

"S...rah…" Rin's voice cut out and she stopped breathing, staring up at the ceiling with dull eyes.

She could see her mother. The only family who ever accepted who she was. Her whole body felt numb and cold, fear gripped her heart, she could feel her nails scratching the wooden floor beneath her. She had to stay awake, she had to hold onto life, she wasn't ready for her mother to take her, she couldn't be done yet. It wasn't fair.

Ava watched the life drain from Rin's bloodstained body. Her dull eyes still looked like they were looking at the ceiling above, but she knew they saw nothing. She was gone. Forever.

Wave fell to his hands and knees, punching her ground in frustration and anger. Blood pooled around the bodies of his fallen comrades.

Skyrah stopped fighting and just cried out in a mixture of sadness and anger, a seemingly never ending amount of tears poured from her eyes. Chelsea was trying to keep it together, but she eventually pressed her face down into Skyrah's blanket, screaming and crying along with her.

Akame was shaking, silently sobbing on the shoulder of her also crying sister.

Ava still stood, scarred by the scene that had just unfolded before her. A single tear slid down from her right eye, feeling like it was burning her face the whole way down. She felt nothing, but somehow she had come to terms with what had just happened.

Night Raid's Rin and Fox were dead.


	34. Chapter 34: Kill The Aftermath

**Chapter 34**

 **Kill the Aftermath**

Esdeath and the other revived fighters retreated quickly, knowing exactly how much damage they had done was good enough. Although failing to retrieve Skyrah, they had killed both Rin and Fox within the blink of an eye, that would do more than just drop the morale of Night Raid, it would break them.

Esdeath and the others stood under a dim light in an otherwise dark room.

In the dark the man that had revived them sat in a large velvet chair, he swirled a glass of wine in one hand, running his fingers through his greasy hair with the other. His grin only widened as he learned of the progress the three he had sent after Night Raid accomplished. Two of them were down, that left eight, plus the American woman.

The scientist snapped his fingers, signaling a tall, muscular man who was leaning against the wall in a corner to come to him. That man was none other than Bulat, ex-Night Raid member and victim to Liver of Three Beasts. On his forearms were skin tight metal bracers with what looked to be pistons on the tops of them, Esdeath recognized them immediately, it was the Teigu Adramelech, once belonging to Great General Budo.

"Esdeath, Bulat will be assisting you with your next mission." The man grumbled, his voice was like nails on a chalkboard in her ears.

She nodded, knowing better than to say that she worked better alone. It had become clear to her that the others were working under him not because of the same reason as her. They truly lived to kill, even the people they once cared about. Chelsea and her seemed to be the only ones capable of thinking completely for themselves, that was why Chelsea had defected.

"What is the next mission, sir?" Esdeath asked politely, it hurt her pride to be so kind, but she thought of it like how she used to bow to the Prince and Honest, not because she wanted to, but because it was the way she could continue her journey of slaughter.

"We're going to Europe, a woman I know wants to see my progress of taking apart those weaklings." He grumbled, sitting up in his chair. "We leave first thing tomorrow."

 _ **1 Week Later...**_

Chelsea, Akame, Skyrah, Kurome, and Mine all stood in a line, talking quietly amongst each other. The past few days had been filled with grieving, a dual "ceremony" for Rin and Fox had been held, and there had been plenty of crying over the week since, but now everyone had to try and keep their spirits high. Night Raid had been invited to a masquerade ball by the newly formed Cobalt Roar, a sort of meeting between the two groups, among the two groups would be an array of government officials, including the same people that had kicked Night Raid out of the Capital.

"Huh, odd." Leone mumbled as she finished taking Skyrah's dress measurements, writing them down on a notepad in her hands with a chewed up pencil that had been kept between her teeth.

"What?" Skyrah asked in confusion, looking down at herself. "Are they different sizes?" She sounded a bit panicked.

Leone giggled along with the other at the clearly disgruntled Skyrah. "No, I just was looking at the measurements." She said, the paper with the end of the pencil. "You and Chelsea are the exact same." Both Chelsea and Skyrah looked over at each other. "Same height and weight, too."

Chelsea gasped, drawing the attention of the room. "Skyrah, you know what this means?" She asked, holding her hand up to her mouth in shock.

"What?" Skyrah asked hastily.

"I'm gonna have bigger boobs than you." Chelsea deadpanned, making the room fall silent.

Skyrah's bangs covered her eyes when she looked to the ground, her face turning pink in a blush.

"That's just mean." She pouted, covering her chest with her forearms.

The group of girls all broke out in laughter, even Skyrah couldn't help but smile, seeing everyone so happy.

"I don't really get why we're doing this, the ball isn't for another two weeks." Skyrah exclaimed, pulling on the braided side of her hair.

"It's better to be prepared than not." Leone was going to jokingly hit Skyrah over the head, but stopped herself and put her hand down. "It's also something to do so you don't worsen that head of yours through training."

Skyrah harrumphed. "I'm fine. Me and Akame are taking it a little easier."

Leone frowned. "Neither of you are fine, both of you have concussions after your fight last week." She looked over to Akame, who have a sheepish smile. "You two don't need to be training at all, let alone actually sparring, you need rest."

Skyrah threw up a hand, waving Leone off. "I'll be fine, calm down, mom." She mocked, her frustration with her head injury was painfully obvious, especially after she seemed to lose her balance for just a moment before catching herself and stood up straight.

"Looks like it." Leone sighed, rubbing her fingers on her forehead. "You girls are free to go, I'll other the dresses you wanted for the ball." She waved them off, allowing them to exit the room, closing the door behind her.

"If you idiots wouldn't have been beating on each other, you wouldn't be all out-of-whack" Mine chastised, pursing her lips. "You probably can't even fight without falling over."

Skyrah grit her teeth. "Do you wanna test that, Mine?" She tried to turn her head and all the sudden her gravity shifted, making her fall over on her side. Skyrah's eyebrows furrowed as she got to her hands and knees, growing angry

Akame knelt down, holding Skyrah's shoulder and preparing to pick her up, but the fallen girl swiped her hand, shooing Akame away.

"Don't help me!" She growled, pushing herself up, holding her head in her palm and walking off.

Akame shot Mine an angry look and followed after her embarrassed and frustrated girlfriend, who was stomping her way back to their room. Since getting the concussion during the fight week before, Skyrah had become unreasonably irritable. She felt useless and weak when she watched the others taking jobs she wanted to do herself and training to their full potential, when she was cooped up inside, not having a thing to do.

Akame had tried to teach her how to cook, but Skyrah's impatient attitude reflected poorly in their food. She had been finding a little enjoyment out of watching Akame cook, but that was all she did to keep her mind off her own concussion, the two had hardly spent time together, and the emerald-eyed assassin began to grow restless.

Skyrah was laying in her bed when Akame entered, simply sliding in next to her and not saying anything. She snuggled up against the shorter girl, pressing her face into her brown hair and taking deep breaths, smelling the classic scent of lilacs.

"Hey." Akame tried. "Mine was just kidding, you don't have to take her seriously." She said, giving a light squeeze to her girlfriend.

Skyrah harrumphed. "She needs to just leave me alone sometimes." She retorted, turning her body around and pressing her face into Akame's warm chest, taking a deep breath.

Akame ran her fingers through Skyrah's hair, closing her eyes. "Let's just get some rest, there's nothing going on today, we won't miss much."

"Wait." Skyrah said, looking up into Akame's eyes. "You don't want to lay in bed all day…" She mumbled, feeling guilt for making Akame stay with her.

"Well, we don't only have to sleep." Akame felt a blush come to her face after her suggestion, she looked over Skyrah's head, trying to defuse the suggestion after the other girl in bed with her hadn't responded. "Sorry, I didn't-"

Skyrah pulled her down, forcefully pressing her lips to hers and pressing into her, exploring her body with her soft hands. She pulled at the belt of Akame's minidress, eventually getting it off and pulling the black cloth off of her, the both of them leaning up as they continued kissing and loving on each other.

Akame was pressed down onto the mattress by Skyrah's body, the brown haired girl bit and sucked at her girlfriend's neck, driving the young lovers absolutely crazy. Akame didn't realize how she was scratching down Skyrah's back, nearly hard enough to draw blood with only her nails.

Skyrah couldn't even feel the pain from the excitement and sexual energy coursing through her body. She continued sucking at her neck, eventually pulling away and kissing her up her neck and to her lips. Akame's tongue soon invaded her mouth, gently sliding around and against Skyrah's tongue.

"You make me…" As Skyrah slid her hand up Akame's inner thigh, she gasped, cutting off her sentence for a moment. "So fucking horny."

Skyrah gave a devilish grin, she didn't get to hear Akame curse often, especially in such an indecent and sexual way. She slid her middle finger inside of Akame's hot and wet body, sending waves of pleasure through the girl.

Akame covered her mouth, releasing a huge moan into her palm as Skyrah continued.

"Skyrah… F…" Akame moaned, squirming under the girl, her red, lusty eyes locking with Skyrah's green.

"Say it." Skyrah slowed down her pace with her hand, causing Akame to whine and try to move on her own. "Say it and I will." She said, staring into half-lidded eyes.

"Skyrah… Fuck me." Akame finished. "Please fuck me."

"That's my girl." Skyrah picked up the pace, leaning in and teasing Akame with kisses with her lips and tongue whilst still using her hand. It was incredible how much of a rush it gave her to hear Akame talk so dirty.

"Skyrah… I'm…"

"Then cum." Skyrah finished for her, pulling her head away from Akame and fully focusing on finishing her off.

"Sky~" Akame arched her back violently, her legs shaking in excitement as she orgasmed, Skyrah still hadn't stopped using her fingers to her advantage, and took the opportunity to speed up even more, making Akame moan in pure ecstasy as her even more extremely sensitive parts continued to be assaulted by the girl she loved. "Sky!" She cried out, trying to take a breath but being caught up in the incredibly pleasure in her nether regions.

Akame cried out again, louder this time, arching her back the same way and having yet another orgasm just seconds after her last.

Skyrah and Akame collapsed, both heaving for air from their experience. Skyrah felt a wetness from an orgasm she had just by being there with Akame. The two fell into a deep kiss, breaking off after a few minutes, allowing them the rest they needed and deserved.

Leone closely watched Tatsumi and Wave training. The two sparring reminded her greatly of how Akame and Skyrah did it, they both knew the extent of each other's techniques, so they would try to be reckless and change up their attacks on the fly. She was especially interested in a certain technique they had learned when training for the war against Devil's Core, the two were temporarily allowed to join Teigu, but an extreme amount of stress was mounted on who got to use the ability, which seemed to randomly choose one of them.

Skyrah staggered outside, rubbing her tired eyes as the morning light assaulted them. She was sporting black leggings and a salmon tank top hanging just under her waistline, as she stretched her arms upwards, the top revealed a little of her stomach and a scar she had received from Champ in their encounter within the Capital.

Leone ushered her over, noticing how much the girl was focusing to stay balanced. The older woman put an arm around her as she got to her side, keeping her balanced.

"Thanks, sis." Skyrah yawned. "It's getting better, I can already tell."

Leone nodded, even though she could tell the girl was lying. "Still have a headache?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm good." Skyrah giving a big toothy grin as she watched Tatsumi and Wave go back and forth.

Leone tapped the first knuckle of her index finger against Skyrah's head, seeing the girl wince in pain. "Liar." She smiled. "I've had a concussion before, I know it sucks, you just gotta let yourself heal."

Skyrah frowned but nodded. "I want to do a different kind of training today."

"I don't think you should be doing any training today." Leone pursed her lips. "But what do you have in mind?" She inquired curiously.

Skyrah tried to pull away from Leone, failing at first, then finally getting away, stepping down into the training grounds where Tatsumi and Wave were in the heat of their sparring match.

Eventually Tatsumi noticed her, stopping in the middle of his charge and getting smashed across the face by Wave, who then saw Skyrah as well.

"Hey, Skyrah." Wave said, speaking through his armor. "You're finally up."

Tatsumi fired back, hitting Wave back and making him back away a few meters. "Don't just act like that wasn't a cheap shot!" He shouted in annoyance. "Skyrah distracted me!"

"Sorry, boys." Skyrah apologized, laughing a little and tilting her head. "I need a favor."

Both of them looked at her. "Like what?" Wave asked.

Skyrah scratched the back of her head. "When you guys first… came together… how did you do it?" She asked, trying to be the least bit strange about it.

"You mean Teigu Plus?" Tatsumi asked, crossing his arms. "It's a technique we learned from Najenda when we were traveling, she was the only one who knew about it." He explained.

"Can you show me how?" Skyrah pressed her hands together, pleading. "I want to learn how to do it."

Both Tatsumi and Wave deactivated their Teigu and kind of let off a little laugh.

"It's not something you can do with anyone, your Teigu have to be perfectly compatible or it can end up hurting you." Wave explained, pointing at Tatsumi. "Our Teigu are nearly the same thing, so it works pretty well for us."

"Oh, that makes sense." Skyrah put her hand up to her chin, looking at the both of them. "What will I have to do to get you to spar against me like that?"

"No way." Wave said instantly. "You have a concussion, I'm not touching you and getting grilled by Akame for it." He denied her, facing away.

Tatsumi nodded in agreement. "I agree, the last thing you need is to get hurt again and making it worse."

Skyrah sighed deeply, knowing there was nothing she could do to change their mind.

"Skyrah. Come here." Leone walked along the edge of the training grounds, walking away from the hideout and towards the woods.

Skyrah quickly made her way over to Night Raid's new leader, walking beside her as she made her way to a small hill that led down to a small pond, where a certain redhead was knelt down, watching the water intently. A clothesline was tied between trees, holding some different outfits from the members of Night Raid up to dry.

Leone sighed, turning to her younger friend. "I know you may not like it, but helping her may help you two work out your differences." She suggested, seeing the look of disgust appear on Skyrah's face. "Skyrah, you two may dislike each other, but you are going to have to learn to work together in one way or another."

"She tried to kill all of us, Leone." Skyrah grit her teeth, looking down at the girl quietly and peacefully working. "How am I supposed to look past that?"

Lionelle's user turned Skyrah around, making her notice the gathering of Night Raid members watching Wave and Tatsumi train.

Akame stood next to Kurome, even though Skyrah couldn't hear what they were saying, she could see the bond of sisters connecting them. She saw them smiling and laughing, making each other truly happy. So much had changed since Skyrah had first arrived in the Capital, and since Kurome had nearly killed her in that town of flowers.

"I know you and Akame have talked about her past, too." Leone spoke softly.

Skyrah nodded, recalling the long conversation she basically had to pry out of her girlfriend. It was quickly revealed to her that she was not alone in having a dark past. Akame used to work for the Empire's forces with the Elite Seven, a seemingly unbeatable team of assassins raised since childhood to be killers, events from her time within the Elite Seven were so vividly burned into Akame's memory that Skyrah wondered how she possibly kept any of her emotions.

Akame explained how Najenda succeeded in making her defect from the Empire, by describing the corruption that Akame had grown into, and had almost become apart of. Skyrah couldn't imagine the person she had fallen in love with being her enemy.

"Akame used to be just as bad, it was what she was trained to do her whole life, Skyrah." Leone broke the silence. "You fell in love with her, why don't you at least give Ava a chance to be a friend?"

Skyrah nodded, trying her hardest to find a gap in Leone's logic. She didn't want to be friends with Ava, but she could at least try to be nice to her for now.

"Alright. I'm going." Skyrah turned around, walking down the hill with a little hesitation.

Ava was deep in thought, staring down into the water, but not really seeing anything. She recalled the moments that had happened a week before, watching the life leave Rin and Fox's eyes, leaving their once lively bodies before her on the ground, unmoving, with fresh tears still streaming down their faces.

She had killed plenty of people in her time, she was a mercenary, a killer. Nothing more, nothing less. She had become so far detached from human emotions she considered herself more than human. A God to her team, but a Devil to anyone who stood in their way.

It had been so many years since she had felt so strongly about the death of someone. Rin and Fox were somehow different to her, in the few days she had seen them working around Night Raid's headquarters, she half expected to see them doing the same things even after they died, but they didn't. They were gone.

Ava gripped her fists, her brain was telling her to forget about them, but her heart wouldn't allow it. Their bodies were burned into her brain. Just like the first people she had worked with.

"Hey." A voice behind her snapped her back to reality, she quickly recognized Skyrah's voice and turned back to her, giving her an annoyed expression before turning back to the water, watching the fish swimming slowly underneath the murky surface.

"If you're here to gloat, just go away." Ava snapped, taking a deep breath.

"What do I have to gloat about?" Skyrah asked, sitting down next to her and scaring the fish away, much to Ava's dismay.

"Idiot." She muttered, turning to the girl. "You scared them off."

Skyrah looked down at the water for a moment, then realized what Ava was talking about.

"It's Akame's job to hunt fish, 'idiot'." Skyrah mocked her insult, frowning.

Ava glared at Skyrah. "I wasn't trying to kill them, I was watching them." She spat, turning back to the water.

Skyrah stayed quiet for a few minutes, eventually joining Ava in what she was doing, smiling a little as they quickly returned. The sun made its way over the hill, lighting up the murky water, allowing the both of them to see the colors reflecting off of the scales of the fish.

"Pretty…" Ava cooed, her eyes lighting up as she watched the simple water creatures.

"I never took you for a nature lover." Skyrah giggled a little, turning to Ava.

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

Skyrah laughed loud. "The first time we met you threatened to bury me and everyone I care about." She recalled. "That being after I stopped some of your soldiers from raping a little girl."

Ava didn't speak for a moment, but stood up, looking down at Skyrah with sad eyes. "I suppose you're right." She said, turning away, the wind blowing her hair to the side as she looked up at the blue sky. "Skyrah."

"Hm?" Skyrah hummed in question, still sitting where Ava had been.

"What was your first kill like?" She asked, forcing herself to not turn around.

Skyrah raised her eyebrow at first, but then her expression softened. "I freaked out. It was a man working in a slave trade, I knew what he was, what kind of monster he had to be to do such a thing with people…" Skyrah trailed off for a moment. "But I was crying and screaming as I did it, had Leone and Akame not arrived, I would have passed out right there beside his crushed face." She explained. "What about you?"

Events flashed in Ava's mind, haunting her very soul. This girl had it easy her whole life. She would never know the pain that shaped a real warrior.

"When I was little, I grew up in a military family. My mother, father, and my three older brothers were soldiers. Each of them had been a prodigy, in one way or another that related to fighting. I was different, I didn't have the aggression or strength of any fighter, I would rather be outside, watching the clouds than hurting someone." Ava returned to where Skyrah was sitting, kneeling down beside her. "When I turned eight, a man approached my family, knowing how frustrated they were with how I had turned out. He gave them a heart of an unknown and forced me to eat it, that is where I got my curse. The ability to control the Devil's flames." She explained, taking a deep breath. "Years passed, my abilities evolved and so did I. I turned from a sweet little girl to what amounts to a weapon of mass destruction. My own family was terrified of me, and especially when my powers started began getting out of my control. The government took me and put me in a squad of adults that weren't afraid of me, it was the first time I had been happy in what felt like forever. Then…" Ava stopped, her eyes widening.

Skyrah crossed her arms. "Then you killed them."

Ava turned to Skyrah, her eyes wide in shock. "Not just them, anyone who ever treated me with any kindness was killed, and it scared the hell out of me." She felt tears falling from her eyes. "Until I wound up as the leader of Devil's Core, the people in that group were broken, insane in their own right. For awhile I thought that was where I belonged, and that was what helped me control of my powers, loneliness."

Skyrah nodded, looking down, away from Ava's tear-filled eyes.

"When I was a girl, a man entered my classroom during a school day and butchered the whole class." Skyrah recalled, her eyes dulling as she remembered the vivid memory. "I lost my arms and legs, my parents put me up for adoption, my eldest sister tried to help, but she was banished from our family. I was adopted by General Budo, who later introduced me to General Esdeath, and tried to integrate me into their rotten Empire. That was my adoptive mother that killed Rin and Fox last week." Skyrah sighed deeply, looking over to a shocked Ava with a calm smile on her face.

Ava had been wrong, this girl was just as damaged as she was.

"How can you possibly smile?" Ava questioned, a rage building up inside her. "Are you that dense?"

Skyrah's eyebrows furrowed and she gripped her fists. "It hurts. It hurts so fucking much to see my friends die, but they would want to see me smile, so I do." She growled. "I don't need a lecture about being dense from a warlord, either."

Ava grit her teeth, turning away from Skyrah. "A warlord to you, but a hero to my people."

Skyrah stood up. "I guess." She said, brushing off. "I suppose we've all taken too many lives to talk about morals anymore." She looked up the hill where a carriage had arrived, from it came Sarah and another woman following close behind her.

Ava saw Skyrah's logic, she couldn't help but agree with her in one way or another.

"You aren't as bad as I thought." Ava said, standing up.

"Ditto." Skyrah immediately responded.

The two turned to each other, meeting eyes. Skyrah gave a big toothy smile to Ava, who smirked a little.

A scream of anger alerted both parties to the top of the hill.


	35. Chapter 35: Kill the Bond

**I know I have been gone for a long time, and I really do apologize for not updating. But I have finished the story and will be updating daily from now until completion, thank you for sticking with me through this wild ride. I have another project I'm brainstorming at the moment but it will not be making a debut for a few months. It's crazy to think that I started this story when I was a Sophomore in High School and now I've graduated. Once again, thank you to everyone for waiting and I hope you enjoy the final chapters of Akame ga Kill: Plus!**

 **Chapter 35**

 **Kill the Bond**

Akame lunged at the young and injured girl with her fist cocked backwards. It had only taken her a second to recognize the girl who had almost gotten everyone she cared about killed. The girl that was supposed to be long since dead.

Mia.

Her fist hit Mia so forcefully that the girl's defense was obliterated in one punch, throwing her backwards until she skidded to a halt on her back.

"Akame!" Leone screamed, grabbing the girl's arm and holding her so she couldn't attack again.

Mia slowly sat up, the white bandages around her stomach and arms began to blot with red as some of her wounds reopened. She put on a small grin that almost made Akame explode in anger.

"Heck of a greeting." She said, struggling to her feet and meeting eyes with Akame, who was glaring daggers at the younger girl.

Akame pulled out of Leone's grip and dashed towards Mia, who hardly even saw the impending attack coming until something appeared right in front of her. However, before the attack landed, a different fist smashed into the young assassin's face, knocking her straight down into the ground.

Skyrah stood over Akame with a furious look on her face, Mia was just standing with her mouth agape at how different her Sissy looked.

"Stop!" Leone had activated her Teigu and grabbed both Akame and Skyrah by the back of their heads, squeezing just enough to not hurt them but let them know she was serious. "What the hell is the problem here?!"

"S-Sissy!"

"Shut up, Mia." Skyrah snapped.

"What was that for?" Akame growled at her girlfriend.

Leone released the two, but held them apart as they immediately got right up close and personal with each other.

"Why'd you attack her?" Skyrah shouted back.

Akame grit her teeth. "Stupid, she led Esdeath to us the last time she was around us!"

Skyrah was about to break through Leone's arm just to get to Akame.

Leone could only watch in awe. As close as the two were, and despite their romantic relationship, they were rivals ever since they met.

"She still had that Cosmina bitch in her head, stupid!" Skyrah retorted, pressing her chest into Akame's and standing up to her.

The two both clenched their fists at the same time, and just when it looked like the two were really going to tear into each other, Mia came up and pushed between them both, facing Akame.

"Stop fighting!" She interrupted. "I'll leave, I didn't realize I was going to start a fight between you two…" She looked genuinely saddened.

Skyrah crossed her arms. "You aren't leaving, I'm not letting you."

Akame put her hands on her hips. "She's dangerous, Skyrah!"

"She's not!" Skyrah fought back.

"This is two of the people who took me down." Ava mumbled sarcastically.

"Shut up!" Both Akame and Skyrah shouted at her together.

Ava put her hands up innocently, walking away.

"Girls, calm down…" Mine tried, pulling Skyrah away while Akame was being held back by Kurome.

"Let me go." Skyrah pulled out of Mine's grip and motioned to Mia. "Come on, Mia."

Akame glared at the back of Skyrah's head as she ushered Mia inside, away from the conflict.

"A lover's quarrel." Wave said, getting a brief nod from Tatsumi in response. Akame had clearly heard the remark and hit them both with her furious glare.

When Skyrah and Mia entered the hideout, they were quickly trailed by Leone, who caught up to the girls and stopped them.

"We're going to need some details if we're going to trust you, Mia."

"Not you too, Leone." Skyrah sighed deeply.

"I'm not agreeing with anyone or saying something, but you don't exactly have the best track record with us." Leone used a calm tone like she remembered Najenda doing, trying her best to remain open minded.

"Alright." Mia said with a light sigh. "I'll tell you what happened when you found me."

 **/**

Mia jolted awake to the boom of thunder overhead, she was breathing heavily and sweating profusely in the chilling night air. She knew she had been dreaming about something that had terrified her, but she didn't know what it had been, she couldn't even recall what it had been about. She pulled her mass of blankets higher on her body, wishing she could snuggle up to the person who used to be by her side.

The lone girl was perched under an old clock tower smack in the middle of the slums. A few kind locals had helped her set up an old sheet metal roof above herself to protect her from the constant rain the slums had been getting at night. Some of them weren't too keen on letting her stay there, however, and actually told her to leave and never return. That answer was all too familiar to Mia, and after staying in caves or under trees for the past few weeks, she agreed that she would leave.

She was considered a renegade, outlaw, criminal, sometimes even monster. In the weeks that had passed since her sudden revival. What she had found out was that she wasn't the only one to be revived, but was one of the few whose brain had not been altered. Her Teigu hadn't been completely from her body, but her heart was finally human because of the process she was revived through.

Esdeath and her newly formed team, Black Council, was searching day and night for her. The only place she felt safe was the slums she currently resided in. Mia knew Esdeath and her team wouldn't search the broken down city, it didn't make any sense for her to be there, but she was.

She couldn't go to Night Raid for help, there was no telling how they would react to the dead person that gave Esdeath their location just running up to them.

Mia slowly slid herself away from her bed. She slipped out from under the covers and clothed herself, walking out from under their makeshift shelter and feeling the cool rain tapping her head and shoulders. The young woman hopped down to the ground from their elevated area, mud splashing up around her as she landed.

Her footsteps splashing in the mud was all she focused on as she zig-zagged through the slums, passing by other, more permanent shelters. She could feel her heart tightening in her chest. These were good people, despite where they lived and the situation they were in. They didn't deserve such poor living conditions.

"I'll make this right." She whispered to herself. "It's the least I can do."

Mia was inside the Capital within a few minutes, slipping through dark alleys and clambering up the sides of houses to dodge the military forces that patrolled every night. While the military wasn't her immediate enemy, she knew Esdeath and Black Council had contacts within their ranks, and if she was spotted by the wrong person, it would be curtains for her newest hideout.

She had traveled these rooftops almost every morning before the sun came up, trying to get her any information that would help her. She had never been caught, but being seen was a different story, many soldiers that once fought for Night Raid or the Empire lost their lives to her. And despite her body count, Night Raid hadn't seemed to have found out who she was.

Mia eventually stopped to catch her breath in a dark alley, hugging the wall to eliminate the chances of being seen.

"Damn this city." She mumbled, using one of the walls to boost herself into an open window, finding herself in a store that was hours away from opening. She took a deep breath and dusted herself off, looking around the empty store. Something smelled inside, but that wasn't going to stop her from feeding herself. Whilst stalking the city in the early hours or the morning, Mia had found out the shop she was in always kept a surplus of food in the cellar, and took small amounts when she was in need.

The girl listened to the floor creak as she walked towards the back of the counter, where a suspiciously placed rug stuck out on the wooden floors. She slid back the rug to reveal the cellar door, which she promptly opened, rushing down the stairs into the much cooler air.

Before she reached the bottom of the steps she stopped, feeling a strange difference in the air around her. It seemed thick, and the smell had only worsened the deeper she got into the cellar.

"Is someone here?" She called out, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.

No response. The only noise was the creaks of the house and her own breathing. She closed her eyes, if someone was here, they couldn't hide their energy from being detected at the very least. After a little less than a minute she gave up, she was convinced no one was there.

"Geez… you shouldn't be so paranoid." She mumbled to herself, walking towards the end of the room where the supply cabinet that she usually raided waited for her. "No one knows you're here."

Mia pulled open the cabinet door and an intense rush of panic raced through her body as two grenades fell to her feet from the cabinet shelf, both with their pins pulled.

Without any more hesitation, Mia rushed up the stairs, sliding over the front shelf and suddenly feeling her body lift off the ground, then hearing the explosion rip through the entire building.

Mia's body was thrown through the front window and out onto the wet stone road, rolling against it and jamming some of the glass into her skin. Blood streamed out of the top of her head, sliding down her face and covering it with the hot crimson liquid.

With ringing ears, Mia pressed herself off the ground, looking back at the building she had become familiar with in flames.

"Fuck…" She grit her teeth, feeling pain radiating in the side of her face. She explored the area with her hand, realizing a shard of glass had imbedded itself right under the edge of her mouth, she quickly ripped it out, feeling tears exit her eyes as the stabbing pain shot through her face. "What the hell was that?"

"So it really is true." A voice said from behind. Mia turned around, her eyes meeting the silhouette of a huge man walking towards her, his arms equipped with huge contraptions. "You're alive."

"Who the hell are you?" She questioned, her eyebrows furrowing in anger as she pointed at the burning building. "What did you do?"

"I cut the gas lines, let some of it seep into the building to make a bigger boom." He said, stopping a few meters away, putting a hand in his pocket.

"Gas…" Mia's eyes widened. That had been the strange smell in the air, this man, whoever he was, somehow found out she was the one stealing and blew up the whole building just to get at her. "Isn't that just a little overboard?! You could have killed more than just me, idiot!" She was amazed how far this man was willing to go to stop her.

The man laughed. "Who cares? It's not my problem." He answered, his blue eyes finally showing.

"Isn't this your shop?" Mia shouted, clenching her fists.

He stayed quiet for a few moments, before finally sighing. "You must not recognize my voice, little girl."

Mia raised an eyebrow, feeling the rising sun on her back as it creeped over the buildings behind her, casting it's light on the Capital, and the man standing before her.

"How about now?"

The girl's eyes widened as she finally laid eyes on the new wielder of Budo's Teigu. A previous Night Raid member, and the second in command of Black Council.

"Bulat." She said in shock. "W-why?"

"Y'know, Mia, I never really saw you as the type to turn and run from a chance to kill Night Raid." Bulat said with a genuine laugh. "I guess all of my enemies are cowards."

"How am I your enemy?" Mia muttered, her heart dropping in her chest. From the little she had heard from Skyrah about this man were of his bravery and kindness. But standing there, staring into his cold, dead eyes, all of it was washed away with the rain. "I've done nothing wrong!"

"Which will make this even easier." Bulat said, a small smile appearing on his face.

Bulat put his fingers up to his mouth and whistled, to which rogue soldiers came running up behind him, ready to attack. Lubbock came swinging down from a building as well, taking his place beside Budo.

"So be it." Mia mumbled, putting her fists up, glaring at an adversary she had been evading.

Lubbock charged in, but was met with a roundhouse kick to the side of his jaw, crushing some of his teeth into powder in his mouth from the sheer force of the kick.

Capital soldiers rushed at Mia with various weapons, each of them being parried and deflected systematically by the advanced fighter.

Mia ripped a polearm from the hands of one of the soldiers, hitting one charging her from behind with the back of the weapon before stabbing it into the chest of the soldier she took it from. She slid under the legs of another soldier, stealing the dagger around his waist and pouncing onto a different one, jamming the dagger into his face before returning it to the throat of it's owner.

A fat soldier raised a huge hammer over his head, Mia took advantage of the slow attack and slammed her bloody fist into his throat, crushing his windpipe and making him collapse, holding his neck in agony. His fellow comrade met Mia's knee when it was rammed into his nose, breaking the entire front portion of his skull.

Mia grinned as the adrenaline raced through her body, dulling any pain she was causing to herself by going all-out on the pathetic excuses for soldiers. She hadn't felt anything like this before, she laughed, mocking the soldiers trying their absolute hardest to stop her. Each one that initiated a fight with her was going home in a body bag. She left behind no injured, only corpses in her wake of death.

"Stop her!" A captain ordered ten other soldiers forward, standing in place as they rushed into battle.

Mia turned to face them, grabbing the first one by his helmet and spinning it to the right, hearing his neck snap under his armor and jumping over him, landing on the next one and stomping through his faceplate, caving in his face in one swift motion.

The next soldier slashed his sword wildly, allowing it to be caught and immediately used against him. Mia pulled on the now dead man's arm and used the sword to kill the next man as well, taking his helmet off and using it to bash in the head of the next.

With half of them taken care of, Mia took a breath, sliding under the axe of her next victim, grabbing the base of the axe head and breaking it off to slice through his chest, picking him up and ramming his corpse into another man, sticking them together with the axe.

The next two came charging in together, swiping their swords at the same time, which she dove through the center of, rolling and turning around, smashing her fist into the back of one of their heads, then kicking the other man right under his helmet, crushing his windpipe.

The final soldier rushed in with only his fists, slamming his right into Mia's face, feeling the bones in his hand snap and break right when they made contact.

Mia pulled her arm back then pushed it forward with all her might, burying it into the man's chest and out his back.

With one hard pull, she ripped her arm out of his chest, letting his lifeless body drop to the floor.

Mia turned around, glaring at Bulat and the injured Lubbock, the captain of the ten men that had attacked her had already turned tail and ran.

The revived fighter was panting, trying to catch her breath. Her arms hung limp at her sides, her wounds from the glass and weapons of the soldiers poured blood, mixing with the blood of many that coated her body.

"Your a cute one, even covered in blood." Lubbock said, holding his jaw in pain.

"Shut up." Mia retorted, taking deep breaths.

"It's a shame though." His boots clicked on the wet ground as he backed a few steps away from the girl. "You fell right into my trap." Lubbock jerked his hands upwards.

Wires that had once been invisible to her lifted her off the ground, cutting into her skin all over her body as they tightened at a rapid pace.

"Looks like you've got nowhere to go, bitch." Lubbock said, smiling as the wire around her neck began to draw blood. The girl may be strong, but she was incredibly reckless when it came to fighting.

Mia's pupils shrank as she pulled on the strings, gritting her teeth as they slashed deeper and deeper into her skin. Forcing her mind through the pain, she wrapped the razor wire around her palm, causing them to tighten all over her body and make her spit up blood. Her hardened skin on her body was making less of a difference with each second that passed.

Lubbock howled in laughter. "Trying to end it early, little girl?" He continued laughing as he approached her, sliding three of his fingers into the gaping wound in her abdomen. "You're bleeding a lot, how long do you think you can last?"

"Longer than you'll be breathing." Mia grinned, staring deep into his eyes. "Remember this moment, it's the deepest you'll ever be in a girl." She mocked.

With a huge roar of anger, the wires that suspended Mia in the air snapped from her suddenly blackened arms. She had focused her Teigu into only her arms, allowing her body to be cut into so she could free herself, a dangerous tactic, but one that had ultimately set her free.

As Lubbock took a step back with wide-eyes, Mia gripped her throat, trying to find out how deep she had been cut. She took a sigh of relief, it wasn't nearly enough to kill her, it likely wouldn't even leave a scar, but some of the other gashes in her body was going to cause her to bleed out if she didn't find help.

The young girl turned tail and ran from the two members of Black Council, trying to ignore the pain burning her entire body.

"Dammit, stop being such a baby." She spoke herself, gritting her teeth. "Skyrah wouldn't be whining." She closed her eyes, silently cursing herself for mentioning her name.

Mia felt her her whole body drop as she bashed her head onto something she in her path she hadn't been paying attention to. She found herself moments later, staring up into the morning sky and listening to herself breathe.

The bitter taste of blood in her mouth made her want to roll over and puke, but she couldn't even move her arms. It had been days since she had eaten, and even longer since she had a good night's sleep. Her body was going to take her no further, especially with her injuries.

"Fuck this…" Mia growled, straining every muscle just to lift her head, which she immediately let drop back to the ground. "I'm not gonna die… like this."

She closed her eyes for only a moment, but when she opened them again the sun was right above her, streaming through the rooftops and into the alleyway she had collapsed in.

"Easy, kid, don't move." A woman with a rough voice said. The sound of bandages being torn made Mia hopeful, but she was still trying to find out who was helping her. She felt her leg get lifted off the ground, and she let out a whine in pain as what she assumed to be bandages began being wrapped around it. "What's Lubbock doing fighting you?"

Whoever was there, she knew the situation. Mia lifted her head and made eye contact with the Night Raid member she had never formally met.

"You're lucky Skyrah's cares about you, otherwise I'd leave you here." Leone finished wrapping up her leg and sighed, pausing for a moment. "Where are you staying?"

Mia rolled onto her side, almost crying out as pain shot through her body.

"The… the slums." She mumbled.

Leone smirked. "Hmm, not exactly the best part of town for a little girl." She said, lifting Mia to her feet, and pulling her along. "You want to go back there? Or do you want me to take you to Skyrah?"

Mia wondered why this woman was being so nice to her, it didn't make any sense.

"Please…" Mia felt gravity pulling her down, but Leone kept her up.

Leone nodded. "It wasn't really a question, I'm not just going to let you die." With a swift movement, Leone put Mia on her back, leaning forward so the girl didn't fall off. She began to walk further into the alley.

"Thank you." Mia mumbled, closing her eyes.

She had made it for a few weeks without Skyrah, trying her best to avoid contact with both Night Raid and Black Council, but it seemed like she wouldn't be able to any longer.


	36. Chapter 36: Kill the Survivor

**Chapter 36**

 **Kill The Survivor**

Skyrah and Mia walked close together in the crowded streets of the Capital. The sun, seemingly stuck in the center of the sky above beat down on them with increasing heat by what seemed to be the minute. What they had thought to be a simple chore was turning into an excruciating task because of the boiling hot weather. Originally, Skyrah was supposed to go into town to order a delivery of supplies from one of Leone's many contacts to keep them fed for the next few months. Mia, unknowing of the situation she was getting into, agreed to go along, wanting to talk to the person she cared about most.

"I think I'd rather starve at this point." Skyrah grumbled, pulling on her collar as she dripped with sweat.

She nearly gagged when inhaling through her nose, smelling all of the equally sweaty bodies surrounding her.

Mia giggled. "It's not like you need to eat anymore." Mia said sarcastically.

Skyrah turned, giving her a shocked look before looking down at her body. Mia almost instantly realized what she said wrong.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" She stammered. "You look great, Sissy!" She tried to recover, but Skyrah had already pursed her lips, taking the comment the wrong way.

"That hurt." Skyrah joked, moving through the crowd, holding Mia by the wrist and dragging her along.

A few minutes of silence between the two as they weaved through the streets was becoming more and more uncomfortable for the younger of the two.

"Are you and Akame alright?" Mia questioned.

"Yes." A lie. The two had fought almost throughout the night because of Mia's arrival. While Skyrah could understand that Akame wanted her safe, Akame couldn't seem to understand the bond shared between the two. There was a reason Mia called Skyrah 'Sissy' the two truly were as close as sisters.

Mia could easily tell when Skyrah was lying, even if she had gotten older while she had been gone.

"If I need to leave-"

"You aren't leaving, just get that stupid thought out of your head." Skyrah interrupted, getting frustrated. "She just doesn't trust you. We'll be fine, I love her and she loves me."

Skyrah suddenly pulled Mia faster than before, almost pushing people over to get through.

"Skyrah, calm down, I'm sorry I asked." Mia said quickly, trying to keep pace with her. "You're gonna rip my arm off."

"Not that." Skyrah said quietly so just Mia could hear. "We're being followed." Skyrah spoke in English so hopefully whoever the blonde man following them was didn't understand.

Mia nodded her head, keeping quiet. She had forgotten just how high-profile Skyrah and the rest of Night Raid had become, while not noticed by the general public, they could easily be found by someone looking.

"Maybe it's just a fan of yours." Mia said quietly. "You guys are pretty famous, he might just want an autograph."

"Not looking at me like that he isn't." Skyrah didn't turn around, but Mia quickly glanced back, seeing the cold, dead blue eyes of the young man following them for the past few blocks. "I know a place, if he's looking for a fight then I'll give him one."

Skyrah and Mia eventually broke through the crowd, following a dirt path through a wall of trees and into a large clearing where they eventually stopped, waiting for him to come to them, which he fearlessly did.

"Anyone who had any common sense wouldn't just follow a member of Night Raid into the woods, would they?" Skyrah thought to herself, watching him slowly walk over to them.

"Yuki Skyrah Nashi?" He said just as he stopped, standing a few meters away.

Skyrah raised her eyebrow, having not heard her full name in a long time. This was no fan like Mia said, this was someone who had really gotten to know who she was, or already had known her.

"I don't go by that name." Skyrah responded. "My name is just Skyrah."

"Fine. Skyrah." He said. "My name is Khan, I believe you knew my father."

With a sigh, Skyrah waved her hand in annoyance. "You're being too vague, I've met a lot of people and I don't know you." She answered.

The man smiled. "I apologize, but I'm sure you know the name Budo."

Skyrah stopped waving her hand, putting her arms back down at her sides.

"You're Budo's kid?"

Khan shrugged his shoulders. "In the flesh."

Skyrah looked him over, but eventually sighed. "While I can't doubt the resemblance, I do doubt you are his son, he never even mentioned you."

"All he ever did was talk about you." Khan deadpanned. "After training me when I was a kid, he turned to you, and never once looked back."

Skyrah crossed her arms, trying to read the man, he spoke in a very joyous voice, but the things he was saying almost sounded sarcastic and rude.

"What is it you want?" Skyrah questioned finally.

"You." He answered without hesitation.

With a small smirk, Skyrah giggled. "Sorry, but I'm already taken." She waved her hand in a shooing motion.

Khan stepped forward. "You misunderstand."

A rush of air made Skyrah raise an eyebrow. She noticed the trees and grass blowing away from Khan, who was exerting some kind of pressure just like she could. That hadn't been a confession to her, it was a challenge.

Skyrah grinned. "I guess I could use a workout."

Mia pulled on Skyrah's shirt, bringing her mouth up to the older girl's ear. "Leone sent you on this mission so you could stay out of fighting for a few days, you're injured, remember?"

With a dismissive nod, Skyrah pulled away from her. "I'm fine, my body heals faster than her or Akame." She wasn't completely lying, but her would-be concussion was much less severe than Akame because of the healing properties of her Teigu.

"I'll make the first move, then." Khan said, raising his arms in front of him.

"Go ahead." Skyrah readied herself for an attack, waiting for any movement from the man.

Skyrah waited for a few more seconds, feeling the air passing through her hair and gently blowing through the trees around them.

Mia suddenly felt a dark pressure coming from Skyrah as the assassin stared down her new adversary.

"500 percent." Skyrah exploded with power, surprising her sister.

What looked like bruises began to race up Skyrah's right arm, reaching her neck and then stopping.

Skyrah was flung to the left by some unseen force, making her skate across the ground for a few seconds until she used the momentum to push herself up, regaining her stance. Her body suddenly shook and she coughed up blood, feeling like she had just been thrown into a building.

"What the hell was that?" She wiped her mouth, not understanding how she'd been hit.

Skyrah was crushed onto her back, and Khan appeared standing on her stomach, pressing her into the ground. He reached down and grabbed her hair, pulling her up so the looked into each other's eyes. He simply smirked at the already shaking girl.

Just as Khan vanished, Skyrah kicked up, like he had already predicted the attack before she threw it.

He reappeared in front of her when she got to her feet.

"How the hell-" Skyrah was kicked in the gut, ending her sentence early and throwing her backwards into the trunk of a tree. She spat up more blood onto her lap as her body dealt with the pain.

"Show me." A voice shook Skyrah to the core. She ducked just in time as the tree behind her was obliterated by a single kick.

Skyrah stood herself up, ramming her shoulder under his leg and hoping to throw him off balance, but she only succeeded in making him flip backwards, kicking under her chin with the tip of his boot.

The veteran assassin held her face in pain, trying to track her enemy with her blurred vision.

"You're stubborn!" Khan laughed, appearing behind the girl and kicking her in the spine, making her fall right onto her face.

"That's enough!" Mia shouted. "She's done!"

Khan, who was holding up Skyrah up by her hair, looked over to Mia, throwing Skyrah aside and walking over to the young fighter, who stood her ground bravely.

"Don't…" Skyrah spit out more blood.

Ignoring Skyrah, he closed the distance between himself and Mia. He raised his hand and quickly swung it towards her, who showed no intention of blocking.

Khan felt Skyrah's fist dig into his temple just before he was launched across the entire clearing in milliseconds, smashing through multiple trees before coming to a halt.

Skyrah stood beside the shocked Mia, arm fully extended from her powerful attack.

"Are you okay, Sissy?" Mia's voice was shaky, but she was concerned. "You're bleeding."

Skyrah nodded slowly. "But you're okay." She shook her head, forgetting the pain ravaging her body. He was dominating her completely, much like Ava first had. "Don't antagonize him."

Khan sprung from the clearing without a scratch on him. He brushed off his clothes and began laughing.

"You're quite strong!" He complimented. "But you're slower than I thought you'd be, and really sloppy."

Mia was shocked. She had always believed Skyrah was one of the most refined fighters, and her speed was nothing but inhuman.

Skyrah smiled almost sadistically. "Sloppy, am I?" She clenched her fists, charging in and swinging her fists as quickly and accurately as she could.

"What a temper!" Khan weaved around Skyrah's insanely fast attacks, confusing both her and Mia. "Let out all that anger, shorty!" He grinned.

Mia's jaw dropped. Khan was not only insulting her combat abilities, but now the thing she was most self-conscious of.

"Fuck you!" Skyrah threw an uppercut that Khan ducked under, jamming his fist into her side and making her crumple to the ground in a bloody and shaking heap. "Dammit."

"Maybe it isn't you I should hurt to get what I want." Khan grabbed her by the back of the head, making her face Mia. "What if I snap that little girl's neck?"

Skyrah pulled out of his grasp, spinning around and slashing her arm at his afterimage. He already slammed his fist down into the back of her head.

Rather than fall to the floor, Skyrah forced herself to spin again, finally connecting and hitting him directly in the chest, making him take a few steps backwards.

"You won't touch her." Skyrah said, feeling her body slowing down.

Skyrah's stamina is going to run out. Mia thought, clenching her fists. She had to do something to help her.

 **/**

Akame mulled about the Night Raid headquarters, thinking about the argument her and Skyrah had the night before. This hadn't been the first time they had fought, but it was the first time it had escalated so much, never had she had the urge to hit Skyrah until the night before in their bedroom. She guessed that the feeling was probably the same both ways, Skyrah hadn't spoken to her since, and separated herself, sleeping in the living room rather than with her girlfriend.

Despite the argument, she wanted nothing more than to talk to Skyrah, and really try to get over this hump.

"If you weren't so stubborn…" Akame spoke quietly to herself. "But that girl has no business being around us." She replied to herself.

She continued walking the halls, not knowing what to do. It was past noon and there were no more chores to do and keep her busy. Asking one of the others for a sparring match was always an option, but more than likely she would be denied due to her recent head injury. Skyrah would know what to do, or at least have some ideas, she was good at passing time and always gave the couple some kind of activity, but alone Akame felt stuck.

She scratched her head with both hands rapidly, trying to get her brain to come up with something.

"I'm so boooored~." She groaned.

"You're telling me."

Akame stopped, instantly recognizing the voice and looking up to see Ava leaning against one of the open windows, staring out into the training grounds where Mine and Kurome were busy sparring. Her eyes reflected Akame's face, which looked surprised, if not a little frightened.

"Ava?" Akame stopped walking, crossing her arms as she did.

"In the flesh." She said, looking back out the window. "How can you be bored? There's people around here that actually like you."

"Don't act like that isn't deserved." Akame hissed.

Ava smirked. "Touché." She said, pausing for a moment. "Why don't you go play with the kids?" She mocked.

Akame inhaled sharply, almost getting angry at the girl, but she noticed something peculiar that forced her to hold her tongue.

Ava's wristband, which was locked onto her by Leone to suppress her curse, was missing.

"Where is it?" Akame asked, putting one hand onto Murasame.

The golden eyes that were staring into Akame's flicked down to the sword. "I wouldn't do that, Akame." She said, smiling wide when Akame took her hand away and let it hang at her side. Ava wiggled her arm, showing off the missing machine. "I took it off, didn't want to break it, plus it was such a pain to shower with."

"Skyrah will kill you." Akame threatened.

"Oh, somehow I doubt that." The smile already on her face became sinister. "You see, I've had a little help recently, now Skyrah isn't much of a threat." She continued, closing the window slowly to not attract any attention.

Akame felt a wild pressure rising up between the two, no doubt it was Ava's power overflowing in her body. "You've said that before." She tried, taking a step back slowly. Akame had felt Ava's power before, and seen it firsthand, this was different.

"Well, that's when I was still using the flames of a demon." Ava held out her palm, making a golden flame appear in it. "These are the flames of a God."

Akame's eyes went wide as Ava continued to rise in power. She grit her teeth, reaching for Murasame and diving to the side, cutting a hole in the wall and jumping out of it all in one motion, landing near where Mine and Kurome had recently stopped fighting.

"I warned you people!" Ava yelled, blowing apart the entire part of the building her and Akame were in, emerging from it covered in golden flames. "I'll show you the power of a God!"

 **/**

Mia and Skyrah had their backs against the wall against Khan, Skyrah was losing focus and her body was running out of stamina rapidly because of her injury. There was no way only Skyrah could beat him.

"Heart of the Beast!" Mia shouted, feeling her body strengthen.

Khan turned around with an excited look on his face. "Oh, impressive."

"Mia, stop!" Skyrah shouted.

"I can hold him off for a minute, just rest!" Mia grinned, loving the feeling of her new power after being revived. "Come on, bastard!"

Mia rushed in straight at him, but as her much slower and weaker body cascaded towards him, he used the same striking power as he used on Skyrah and connected with her shoulder, causing a loud crack to echo through the clearing.

Mia's Teigu immediately disabled and her arm went limp at her side, she slammed down onto her back, screaming in pain from the sudden attack.

Khan stomped onto Mia's chest and made the girl's blood curdling screams fall to high pitched squeals.

"Stop it…" Skyrah grumbled, crawling towards her sister.

Khan burst out into laughter. "You can't even protect your own sister!" He kicked Mia in the side of the head, making her close her eyes, which were flooded with tears. "Just think what's going to happen when I find Akame." He whispered.

His threats bounced around in Skyrah's brain, igniting an especially violent fire inside.

"Skyrah!" A crowd had gathered, and obviously recognized the famous member of Night Raid.

A small girl was shouting her name, holding onto her mother tightly as she watched her hero be beaten down before her.

"What a drag." Khan said, walking towards the crowd of people before finally stopping a few meters away. "I want you all to take a long look at your beloved hero before I finally kill her."

"Stop it!" Skyrah shouted, shaking the whole way up as she got to her feet. "Don't make promises you can't keep." She taunted.

"Sissy…" Skyrah turned at the sound of Mia's voice, the girl was looking up at her through tear filled eyes. "Don't… fight."

"Yeah." Khan's voice was inches away from Skyrah's face. She swung her fist as fast as she could, but he deflected it with one arm and grabbed her by the throat with the other, lifting her up. "Don't fight, just die."

Skyrah's brain scrambled for a solution as she gasped for air. Her Teigu deactivated, leaving her even weaker as she was choked to death by the overpowering strength of Budo's son.

"Dammit, I've got no choice!" Skyrah thought, focusing hard. "Don't fail me, body."

"This is what you put your hope in folks!" Khan turned to the crowd, still choking Skyrah. "What an embarrassing display in her last fight!" He laughed, turning to her.

Skyrah had puffed up both of her cheeks, holding her breath as she was still choked. Khan raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You trying to end it early or something?" He asked. "Holding your breath isn't going to hel-"

Skyrah suddenly sent a torrent of flames pouring from her mouth. He jolted and jumped back in surprise, releasing her and not moving fast enough to escape the blast of fire. She continued to exhale as much as she could, adding on to the already overwhelming amount of fire ripping through the clearing.

"Fall, bastard!" Skyrah pulled back her arm, which turned into a dark metallic color. When she pushed the punch forward, Khan came out of the other side of the flames, sliding on his feet.

Mia's eyes were lit up in awe as Skyrah pressed on, rushing through her own flames, singing the tips of her hair and the edges of her clothes black. Her arms up to her shoulders and her legs to her upper thighs had changed from normal into the metal.

"I said FALL." Skyrah pulled a fist down and slammed it into the top of Khan's head, crushing him into the earth.

As the dust settled, a great silence fell over everyone present. The echoes of Skyrah's attacks made it all the way to the Capital, seeming to silence the busy city as well.

Laughter broke the silence. Skyrah was starstruck as her enemy rose from the rubble, only dirt on his clothes to show for her efforts.

"Not even a scratch?" She was in shock at his resilience.

Khan put his hands on his hips, clicking his tongue and shaking his head from side to side. "That was really surprising, but I'm afraid it's not nearly enough." He said. "You can't even beat her."

Skyrah gave a confused look. "Her?"

"You'll know soon." He smiled. "A friend of yours."

Taking a deep breath, Skyrah lowered her fists. Her gaze softened slightly as she met eyes with Khan. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "What exactly do you want?"

Khan turned around, looking at the crowd, all watching the battle happening before them.

"Skyrah, how would you feel if something that was rightfully yours, something you had waited all your life to have… Was given to someone you had never even met?" He asked simply.

Skyrah shrugged, playing along. "Pretty pissed, I guess." She said, getting no reaction for a few seconds. "Why?"

"Pissed is an understatement." He said, turning around with a look of absolute fury on his face. "My father gave away our family heirloom, tracing back to the First Emperor, to a pathetic little cry baby with no arms or legs." He glared at her with a lifetime of hatred.

Skyrah listened closely, looking at him with pity.

"I know more about that Teigu than you ever could, I spent countless hours studying how it worked and what it was capable of in the right hands." He continued his speech. "Then, like it was nothing more than an old book, he gave it to you, because he was 'impressed'." He looked at her with disgust. "I left, and never wanted to come back to this disgusting place, years and years went by, and I never forgot what you did to me."

"What I did to you?" Skyrah was in shock. "We had never even met, I didn't know a thing about you!"

"You don't remember anything about that day, do you?" He questioned in awe. "In Oakheart."

"What the hell is Oakheart?" Skyrah was growing angrier by the second.

Khan stomped his foot. "My father, the real genius he was, decided to have me educated away from the Capital in some backwoods farm town called Oakheart." He spoke in anger, his hate for his father and her mixing. "We went to school together, I was your best friend!"

Skyrah felt like she was hit by a train as Khan rushed her, slamming his fist into her stomach and knocking all the wind out of her, making her roll across the ground as she was thrown backwards.

"You… Liar!" Skyrah felt insulted, she spit up blood into the dirt, trying her best to stand back up.

Khan ripped off his shirt, revealing grisly scars that covered his torso. "Do these look familiar to you?!" He shouted, getting only shocked eyes as a response. He knelt down, punching Skyrah in the face to keep her down. "Stay down like you did that day, you fucking coward!" He reared back, hitting her in the face once again and making her blood spatter all over his bare chest.

Skyrah's brain was flooded with memories from that day. The boy that protected her from Champ so many years before was knelt down over her, giving her exactly what she deserved.

"How naive can you be?" He screamed. "Did you really think you were the only one who survived, or is that just what you told yourself to sound like a hero?" He grabbed her throat, choking her.

"Please… Khan…" Skyrah mumbled as her vision blurred.

He burst out in laughter. "Really? You're begging for mercy?" He said. "Don't worry, you'll meet your friends in Hell, I asked Ava to send them there for me." He increased the pressure on her throat.

Skyrah couldn't believe what he was saying, her eyes grew wide and full of terror for her friends. She was going to die at the hands of her oldest friend, all the while Ava was tasked with killing all of Night Raid.

"Get offa' her!" Khan was suddenly batted away with an entire trunk of a tree, carried by none other than Mia, bleeding and heaving for air.

Skyrah gasped and coughed, feeling the air return to her lungs and brain, clearing up her vision and other senses.

"Mia, don't…" She choked out. "Just run away."

Mia chuckled. "I would if I could." She said, falling backwards. "That's all I've got."

Skyrah got to her feet, holding her face in pain. "I'll get us out of here." She leaned down, picking Mia up.

"I won't let you leave!" Khan grabbed Skyrah's head from behind, pulling her away and making her drop Mia.

Skyrah sent back her elbow, feeling it get caught by his fist. A wave of pain suddenly rushed through her body, but she could tell it wasn't from one of Khan's attacks. She pulled away from him, feeling her face flush red as her body suddenly steamed in the cool air.

She was suddenly heaving for breath, feeling her body weaken with each breath she took. Her arms and legs turned back to normal and were soon drenched with sweat.

"Using two Teigu is taboo, you know." Khan laughed. "Especially for a coward like you."

Skyrah's legs wobbled, and she fell onto her hands and knees, puking in the grass. Her body felt like it was cooking from the inside out. Sweat made her skin glossy and shiny in the sun. She tried to wipe her mouth with a shaking hand, but she puked again, tears falling from her eyes at the same time.

"Skyrah!" It was the voice of the little girl in the crowd, growing close. "I'll help you!"

With growing fear in her heart, Skyrah turned to the side, seeing the girl running towards her.

"She doesn't need your help!" Khan shouted, swinging his arm to the side, making the air rush towards the girl like a blade.

A huge gash opened up the little girl's torso, nearly ripping her in half and spraying blood everywhere in front of her. Skyrah's eyes went dull and her ears started ringing as she witnessed the loss of an innocent life.

The sound of her body hitting the ground, the sound of her mother screaming, the sneering laughter that came out of Khan, and the gasp of the crowd fell on Skyrah's deaf ears.

Skyrah ripped apart the ground beneath her as she lunged upwards, grabbing Khan by the sides of his head slamming her forehead into his, gritting her teeth as pain rocketed through her brain. Her feet exploded with flames and she was launched upwards, carrying Khan until she reached a few hundred feet in the air, letting go of his body and then reversing her momentum, firing back into him, but this time rushing towards the earth below.

She swung her one free arm, hitting him over and over in the face as they fell towards the ground like a rocket. The ground came faster and faster until they eventually struck the earth, shaking the entire forest with the monstrous blow.

The crowd stood watching in silent fear and awe as the smoke cleared.

Both Skyrah and Khan were down on the ground, but, unlike Skyrah, Khan was getting back up quickly.

Rather than staring up at the sky, Skyrah's head tilted to the side, facing the crowd through the tall blades of grass. Her head was pounding and her body had finally screeched to a halt after that final display of power, which she thought for sure would at least daze him.

"Kill them." Khan's voice was muffled, but could be heard.

"Easy." Ava's voice.

Tears fell down Skyrah's face as huge golden flames engulfed the entire crowd, incinerating almost everyone that watched the fight.

Skyrah was picked up by the collar of her shirt and made to look into the eyes of Ava, who wore a big smile.

"You really thought I'd come around to your side, didn't you?" She asked with a humored tone.

Skyrah couldn't even speak, she could only watch as her body was blown away by an explosion, knocking her into the trunk of a tree at the edge of the clearing. Ava caught up to her before she could slide down, she slammed her fist into Skyrah's gut and created another explosion that had the girl flying backwards, skidding to a halt near the edge of a pond.

Ava walked out of the woods, coming right up beside Skyrah and standing over her.

"You look like you need to cool off." Ava kicked Skyrah into the pond, where the girl quickly sank to the bottom, not having enough strength to swim.

Skyrah's vision grew dark as she looked up through the murky waters, watching Ava walk off. It only took a few more moments before Skyrah closed her eyes, letting the darkness take her.


	37. Chapter 37: Kill the Master

**Chapter 37**

 **Kill The Master**

As Akame finally made it to the Capital, the screams of hundreds of people interrupted the normally silent night. Explosions rocked the city every few seconds, ripping apart the once great city. After Ava had attacked the members of Night Raid, she took off to the Capital, meeting up with someone and attacking the city with them, annihilating any adversary along the way.

A soldier wandered through an empty street amongst the rubble, his eyes full and his mind elsewhere. If not for his missing arms, it would have almost seemed normal.

"God…" Akame whispered to herself, seeing the ruins of the city for herself. A sharp pain shot through her left side, looking down, the burned skin nearly made her puke. "Where are you guys…?"

During the attack, Leone had shouted for them all to split up and meet in the Capital, leaving behind the hideout. Ava had followed one of them, but Akame had no idea who, or how they had fared against her.

Akame ran to the side of the road when she saw someone walking towards her, hiding in the bushes. She had no idea who she was dealing with, so she had to be cautious around everyone. The man passed by quickly, seemingly looking for someone.

Suddenly, the bushes rustled beside her, prompting the girl to unsheathe Murasame, ready to attack.

A familiar face came through the bushes, they immediately recognized each other.

"Akame!" Mia said, crouching down beside her. "You have to help me-"

"Where is Skyrah?" She questioned bluntly, seeing the rough shape Mia was in and knowing Skyrah had to be just as bad, if not worse.

Mia took a deep breath. "She's somewhere in the clearing over that way." She pointed behind her. "I couldn't find her so I came to look for help, she's hurt bad."

Akame took off in that direction, not slowing down even a little for the injured Mia.

When Akame broke out of the tree line and into the clearing, she came across patches where the earth had been scorched by intense heat, no doubt by Ava. At the other end of the clearing, the smell of burnt flesh was almost overwhelming.

"It's not her… it's not her…" She repeated, praying one of the many bodies didn't include Skyrah.

Her eyes tracked along the edges of the clearing, eventually coming across a tree that had been split in half and slightly burned from an impact, leading into a trail of more burned vegetation and eventually to a pond, where a body floated in the middle of it, only visible from the glint of the moonlight.

"No, no, no, no." Akame whispered to herself as she pulled off her sword and sheath, diving into the water and swimming to her girlfriend as fast as she could, pulling her back to the edge of the pond and laying her flat on her back. "Skyrah, Sky, baby, can you hear me?" She stammered, immediately beginning CPR.

Her mind was racing, she could hardly believe what she was doing. Skyrah wasn't breathing even a little, while she had been face up in the water and not completely submerged, it might have already been too late.

"No, shut the fuck up." Akame cursed herself, leaning down and pressing her lips to Skyrah's, trying to push air into her lungs. "Come on, Sky." She said, returning to compressions.

Mia came out of the woods behind her, her eyes went wide as she saw the scene before her.

"Dammit, come on!" Akame leaned in again, tears pouring from her face and her voice shaking. When she pulled up again, Mia touched her shoulder, and Akame nearly took her arm off when she swiped her away. "Don't touch me!"

She continued trying to get the water out of Skyrah, but to no avail. She yelled I'm frustration, not willing to accept it.

"Wake up, damn you!" Akame punched Skyrah in the gut, making the girl jolt awake, coughing up what looked like a fountain of water and struggling to get a breath. "Skyrah! Skyrah!" Akame couldn't control herself, she hugged her girlfriend as tight as she ever had, as if making sure the girl really was alive and with her.

"Akame…" Skyrah choked out, barely raising her arms and hugging back. "Where… is Ava?"

"Shut up, shut up, you idiot." Akame laughed, crying hard into Skyrah's shoulder. "Don't worry, just breathe."

Skyrah did what she was told, focusing on breathing and hugging back. "I think I died."

"Please don't say that." Akame sobbed. "I knew you were okay."

"We have to leave." Mia said. "They're going to rip the whole city apart."

Akame nodded in agreement, picking a delirious and injured Skyrah up bridal style. "We have to find the others." She said, looking down at her girlfriend, seeing blood start to stream onto her face. "We have an emergency manta in the forest, keep up."

Mia nodded, following the girl as she tore through the forest, despite the burden of carrying someone just as heavy as her.

Patches of the forest had been destroyed by fire and left behind blackened scars in the earth. They were forced to stay on the outside of these patches in order to stay hidden from the air, where Ava would quickly catch on to what they were doing.

As they reached the Flying Manta, Leone was loading the unconscious bodies of both Tatsumi and Mine onto the animal. Their clothes had been nearly burned off of them from the attack by Ava.

Chelsea, Wave, and Kurome were seemingly shaking off the recent attack.

"Are they…?" Wave began.

"Shut up, Wave!" Leone growled at him, making sure the two were safely attached.

Akame ran over to them, jumping onto the Manta with Skyrah in her arms.

"You found them!" Leone was shocked. "I was about to send Kurome to look for you three."

Akame shook her head. "Skyrah's hurt bad, Ava beat her pretty bad."

"That wasn't all Ava." Mia interjected, letting her head hang.

"Who else could do this to Skyrah?" Wave questioned. "She looks-"

Akame flashed a ferocious look at Wave, who very quickly shut his mouth.

"His name is Khan, from what he told us he's Budo's son." Mia answered.

"Budo has a son?" Leone put her hand to her face in frustration.

Kurome sighed deeply. "How many people are out for our heads now?" She questioned, looking at Mia. "Another army like Devil's Core?"

Mia shook her head. "From what we heard it's just him and Ava." She answered.

Akame grit her teeth, tears slowly gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Akame…" Kurome wondered just what was going through her sister's mind.

Akame shook her head, stepping up onto the Manta and kneeling beside Skyrah, who was trying to sit up. "Everyone is here, let's just go."

With that, the rest of the group quickly piled on and Leone made the Manta go airborne, quickly gaining height over the forest and burning Capital.

Soon the group had left behind the land, soaring over the open waters to an undecided destination.

"Kurome, I need your help." Akame said, pulling her sister over, where they began to aid the barely conscious Skyrah.

"She needs to get treatment that we can't give." Leone said, a stoic expression on her face. "Right now we're on our own."

"Maybe not…" Mia said, holding her head in her hands. "We need to head to England. I know a place where they won't be looking for us."

"England it is." Leone agreed with a sigh. "Come up here, Mia."

Mia did what she was told, walking up to where Leone was and sitting beside her.

"She's on fire." Kurome said, placing her hand on Skyrah's forehead for a moment, it felt like putting her hand on a hot stove.

Akame nodded, Skyrah's skin all over was hot to the touch. "This is strange…" She said.

Kurome looked up at her sister. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"She was a lot like this after using Rin's Teigu." Akame said, seeing Skyrah immediately crack a smile through the pain.

"Guess I couldn't keep it a secret." She muttered.

Akame's heart skipped a beat in fear. "Skyrah did you use two Teigu?!" A slight nod by her girlfriend made her pupils shrink to the size of pinpricks. "What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to kill yourself?!" She nearly yelled.

"Quite the opposite." Skyrah tried to sit up, but gasped in pain and laid back down.

Akame put her head to Skyrah's chest, feeling her heart beating rapidly. "You're crazy..."

"Loveable quality, huh?" She choked out, making even Kurome smirk.

 **/**

In the early hours of the next morning, the manta began its descent to a small town near the ocean. Mia, who was now leading the way, was first to point out that people were gathering near where they were going to land.

"Do not attack these people, when they see Skyrah they will be fine with us." Mia warned.

Skyrah, who had long since fallen asleep, was being held by a recently awoken Akame. The two had been inseparable all night, Akame had worked for hours to bandage and apply what little aid she could to her lover while the others focused on Tatsumi and Mine, who had since woken up.

As the Manta neared the ground, Mia jumped off of the edge, landing as lightly as she could. The crowd backed away from her, leaving a single old man standing in front of the villagers.

Mia approached him slowly, the two shared a sad look.

"I didn't think I'd see you again." The old man said.

Mia dropped to her knees, pressing her palms together and bowing before him. "Grandmaster, while I can never atone for what I have done, I beg that you help my friends."

Back on the Manta which had since landed, Skyrah woke up slowly, looking around with drowsy eyes for a few moments, then letting a big smile creep onto her face. "Wow…" She whispered.

The Grandmaster crossed his arms. "Why should I, especially after what you have done?"

Mia looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "Grandmaster, Skyrah is here."

The Grandmaster went from threatening to shocked in a split second, he ushered the others to come forward, when they did he saw the girl in Akame's arms, battered and bruised from her previous battle.

"Come with me, quickly!" He hobbled along quickly, leading the group to a group of tents with a large red cross posted on a sign nearby.

Women and men of various ages rushed out of the crowd, taking the wounded into separate tents. When Akame tried to follow the doctor with Skyrah, she was blocked by a female nurse at the entrance of the tent.

"Let me in, damn you!" Akame shouted, pointing at her clothes, which were covered in blood from the previous night. "This is her blood, I helped her!"

She shook her head. "The Doctor is going to strip her down, you cannot enter."

Akame was furious. "What the hell does that matter?" She shouted. "It's nothing I haven't seen before!"

"Skyrah is very shy, even around her friends, you must know that." She argued. "I can assure you she'll be-"

"We're dating, bitch!" Akame growled. "We're not just friends!"

The nurse looked shocked for a few seconds, but she eventually nodded, turning back and allowing her into the tent, where she quickly crouched down beside Skyrah.

"I bandaged all of her bad wounds." Akame sighed, feeling Skyrah's forehead. "She has a fever."

"I can tell." She replied, pausing for a moment before looking up at Akame. "What happened to you two?"

Akame shook her head. "We were attacked, that's all I can say."

The doctor gave Akame a knowing look, nodding her head. "Soldiers?" She asked, leaning down and pulling Skyrah's shirt apart by the buttons on the front, exposing her bra and chest. Her eyes widened for a moment, seeing all of the markings on her torso, but she didn't let it distract her for long.

"You can say that." Akame said, realizing she still had Murasame attached to her waist, as she took it off and laid it down, she noticed how carefully the doctor was moving Skyrah around, it almost looked motherly. She was older than Akame, but still quite young, maybe in her late twenties. She had almost strange shiny green eyes and blonde hair that had been tied back in a loose ponytail because of the short notice, her skin was nowhere near as tan as Skyrah, but it had a warm glow to it that reminded Akame of Najenda. "What's your name?"

"Claire." She responded quickly, continuing to work while talking. "Skyrah always used to come to me when she got hurt, I've sewn up… some of these scars." She finished slowly, looking sad.

Akame stayed quiet, watching Claire run her finger over the X shaped scar that Kurome had given her when she had been impaled shortly after arriving to Japan.

"Skyrah's dream was to be a soldier, so I guess she got her wish." Claire sighed. "You're obviously a friend of her's, how has she held up?"

"She's a champion." Akame smiled, pushing some of Skyrah's hair out of her face. "Can't keep her away from fighting, even when she should be resting."

Claire laughed. "I hear that." She agreed with a smile. "She used to run around and fight everyone around here, I've put more stitches in just her than everyone in the village."

Skyrah's eyes opened slowly, and her brain was filled by the laughter of the two girls above her as she awoke.

"Heya, Claire." Skyrah grinned, looking down at her body. "Just like old times." She laughed.

Claire nodded. "Not how I wanted to see you again, but it's nice to see you nonetheless."

Skyrah turned her head to Akame, who leaned down and pecked her on the lips, making them both smile.

Claire looked surprised by the affection. "Now do they greet differently in Japan, or…?"

Skyrah giggled. "Claire, this is my girlfriend, Akame." She introduced them, getting an even more surprised expression from Claire.

"Well, nice to meet you, Akame." Claire shook Akame's hand, and the three fell into an awkward silence.

Skyrah rolled her shoulders, putting her palms down on the ground. "I need up, I have to-"

"Not a chance, young lady." Claire lightly pushed her back down. "You need to get some rest."

Skyrah pursed her lips, looking to Akame for support.

Akame gave her a stern look. "You'll be fine if you get some rest. Just take a nap for a few hours."

With a sigh, Skyrah plopped her head back down on the pillow below it, crossing her arms in frustration. "Fine."

Akame stood up, turning and opening the tent slightly. "I'm going to go help the others settle in outside of town, I'll be back soon."

"No, no, no." Claire said, reaching over and grabbing Akame's hand. "You'll stay with my family."

Akame turned, raising her eyebrow. "There's nine of us together."

"We have a barn you can all stay in, the cattle are out in the fields for the Spring." Claire smiled broadly. "Better than sleeping outside."

After a few seconds, Akame smiled back. "Thank you, Claire."

Claire nodded, returning to Skyrah as the assassin left the tent.

It was late in the afternoon by the time Akame and the rest of Night Raid had settled in to Claire's family barn. The inside had been completely aired out and the usual manure smell was almost nonexistent, making it easy for the group to move into temporarily. If not for Claire and the general welcoming by the villagers, Night Raid would have been stuck outside.

Dark clouds were gathering in the skies above like an airborne army, ready to pour rain down upon the village. While working to set up their sleeping bags in the barn, Akame noticed a large amount of villagers gathered in the center of town, all watching the road that led away from the town.

Something along the road was slowly coming closer to the town, moving at a steady speed towards them, knocking up dust behind them.

Akame squinted her eyes, making out the shape of a carriage being pulled by two white horses, decorated with gold moving towards them.

"We might have a problem!" Akame shouted back through the barn, causing the rest of the group to clamber up to where she was standing in the loft, looking out of the same window as her.

Chelsea crossed her arms. "That was fast." She scoffed. "Are we going to have to fight?"

"This isn't our fight, we should just get Skyrah and get out of here." Kurome said.

Tatsumi used a pair of binoculars to get a better look at the carriage. "That thing is covered in red and gold, it looks like royalty."

"Oh no." Mia said, rubbing the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "This will be a lot worse than a fight."

"What does that mean?" Leone questioned.

"That's the son of King August, he's probably already found out Skyrah is back." She responded. "He's no threat, but I'm sure Skyrah won't be happy to see him."

"Skyrah knows a Prince?!" Leone was surprised.

Mia chuckled sarcastically. "Yeah, you could say that." She muttered, jumping down from the loft and to the bottom of the barn, beginning to walk towards the town.

As the group arrived, so did the carriage. From it came a tall young man, looking absolutely distraught. His white-blonde hair had been pulled back into a bun, but his bangs hung down the sides of his face. His orange eyes were full of worry, and his face had a frown on it. He pulled off a large fur cloak and threw it back into the carriage, revealing his black collared shirt which was loosely buttoned, revealing the necklace with a large gem inside of a cross around his neck. His dark blue pants had a long white rapier strapped to the side of them. With a quick cough to clear his throat, he rolled up his sleeves and shook the Grandmaster's hand.

"Grandmaster Wu, it's a pleasure to see you again." He spoke softly, sending a wave through the women in the crowd as they heard his smooth voice. "Where is she?"

Akame watched from a distance, her arms crossed and her eyes locked on the man. For whatever reason, this Prince had traveled all the way here from London in just a few hours, just to see Skyrah, and Mia already knew there was going to be trouble.

"He's cute." Mine said, getting a sharp look from Tatsumi. "What? It's true."

"He's dangerous." Mia deadpanned, turning to Akame. "Go get Skyrah."

Akame quickly made her way over to and inside of the tent, where a lounging Skyrah was reading a book.

"Hey, cutie." Skyrah greeted, getting a coy smile in response. "What's all the ruckus?"

Akame leaned down, buttoning up Skyrah's shirt quickly. "Some Prince is here, Mia said you probably wouldn't want to see him, so I'm going to take you-"

"Skyrah, is it really you?" An excited voice and the fast steps of boots were coming close to the tent.

Skyrah's eyebrows slowly tilted downwards in anger. "No. Way."

She jumped up to her feet, storming out of the tent and coming face-to-face with Prince August. He looked down on her from his taller stature, and she looked up at him like an angry little kid.

"What's with the sour look?" He asked with a laugh that made the girls in the crowd melt. "You look as gorgeous as ever." A gasp amongst the villagers reached its way to Night Raid, who collectively had their jaws drop except for Mia.

She wore a static frown as she spoke. "Meet Skyrah's ex-boyfriend, Prince August."


	38. Chapter 38: Loputon Rakkaus

**Chapter 38**

 **Loputon Rakkaus**

Skyrah rolled her eyes at Prince August's comment, pushing past him and taking a few steps before he slid back in front of her, making her stop and sigh.

"What?" She spat.

"Aren't you happy to see me, darling?" He smiled arrogantly.

"No." She said simply. "How did you even know I was here?"

Prince August laughed. "My heart led me to you." He cooed.

Skyrah shot a look to Grandmaster Wu, who shrugged, confirming her suspicions. "I don't know what the old man told you, but I don't want to see you."

As Skyrah pushed by him again, this time Prince August grabbed her shoulder, making her wince in pain.

"Come on, babe…" He tried, pulling her back into him and hugging her.

Skyrah kept her arms at her side, turning her head away and not hugging back.

"Get off of her." Akame growled, suddenly appearing beside him and pulling Skyrah away.

"Who are you supposed to be, foreigner?" August reached towards Skyrah again. "I'll have you know that girl-"

"Is my girlfriend." Akame interrupted, drawing her sword and pointing at August's face.

August looked appalled. "Are you threatening me, woman?" He spoke in a low voice.

Skyrah reached out, lightly holding Akame's hand and making her lower the sword, which she quickly sheathed.

"It's okay, Akame." Skyrah said softly, lightly pushing her away from August. "Hold on."

"Skyrah, is what she said true?" August glared at Akame, who glared right back.

Skyrah crossed her arms. "Yes." She answered.

"But-"

"But nothing. We broke up. I moved on." Skyrah interrupted him, making the young man visibly deflate. "I don't know why you find that so hard to believe."

Skyrah waited for a moment for a response. When nothing came, she grabbed Akame's hand, pulling her over to the group. "Let's go, I don't want to be around him." She said, getting only a nod from Leone, following her away from the town.

As they were walking back to the barn, Tatsumi finally spoke up. "You never said you dated the literal Prince of England." He said.

Skyrah grumbled, closing her eyes as they walked. "Why would I have?" She asked. "It's not that special."

Tatsumi raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you quite understand how special that is." He was suddenly elbowed in the side by Leone, who cleared her throat and laughed uncomfortably, trying to lighten the mood.

"So, how do you know Claire?" She asked.

Skyrah took a deep breath. "She used to patch me up when I would get hurt sparring at Wu's martial arts school." She answered, looking down at the ground for a moment before looking back up ahead. "I'm sorry I never told you about August, Akame." She said suddenly.

"Why would you be sorry?" Akame said, putting her hand on Skyrah's shoulder.

Skyrah smiled a little, but it faded quickly. "It was just me and Mia for awhile, it was easy to fall for someone, being so lonely."

Mia chuckled. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Sissy."

Chelsea saw the expression on Skyrah's face sadden, then looked over to Mia. "You have no filter, do you?" She said, shutting her up.

"Mia." Skyrah began, looking back at her. "You're lucky we're even welcome here after what you did." Her eyes were full of fire, and it made Mia quickly back off.

"Listen, Skyrah..." Leone began, patting her back. "We'll keep that creep away from you."

Skyrah nodded. "Thanks, Leone."

 **/**

That night Skyrah and Akame were sleeping cuddled together side by side in the same sleeping bag, the small ocean town had become very cold at night, despite the good weather during the day. While Akame had fallen fast asleep, Skyrah had still yet to even grow tired. She was just looking up into the wooden roof of the barn, seeing the white moonlight seep through the cracks every few minutes when it wasn't covered by clouds. She listened to the wind make the old building creak and shift, making her think it could fall on her any moment.

The young assassin took a deep breath, then quickly and silently slipped out of the sleeping bag. She walked over to the barn door and gently pushed against it, feeling the resistance of the wind on the old wood fight to keep her inside. When she made her exit, she let the wind close the door behind her, listening for the click to know it had closed.

When she made it out into the windy night, she rubbed her eyes and walked over to the side of the barn. As she came upon an old fire pit with a makeshift box of unused firewood beside it, a genuine smile came onto her face. She remembered the hundreds of times Mia and her had stayed with Claire, almost every night they would start a fire.

Skyrah knelt down, pulling some of the firewood out and tossing it into the pit. She turned over a rock at the side of the pit, chuckling a little when the old fire starter she used to use was still there, worn down from the years of use and weather. She unscrewed the top of the old-school device and struck it against the side of the box, creating a large amount of sparks that jumped into the pit like a swarm of fireflies.

With a smile on her face, Skyrah struck it again, making sure the sparks caught some of the brush around the firewood aflame. Soon enough she had a small fire all to herself.

Minutes passed in what felt like hours. The warmth and light of the flames made her drowsy as time slowly crawled by. Her mind wandered elsewhere, remembering things from years ago.

Budo's training began to repeat in her head. Everything he had made her do to prepare her for Loputon Voima and the stress it would cause on her body. It was some of the hardest training she had ever endured, sparring with him was hardly anything less than a real fight. She remembered all the times she had walked away from Budo after he had been too rough with her, nearly breaking her bones and leaving her even more immobile than she was with her makeshift prosthetics she had made herself.

Somehow she had pulled through everything, even Esdeath's grueling teachings. The nights she had spent out in the winter cold in nothing but her underwear were uncountable, but infinitely to her benefit as time went on. She had traveled with Akame and Rin for weeks through the tundra and hardly felt it with just a few clothes on, while the others had to pack them on.

Then, right after receiving Loputon Voima, she was sent to England to complete her training, all the while the country she once knew exploded into war, killing almost everyone she had once known, including Budo, and forcing her to see Esdeath for what she really was.

That was when she met Leone and Akame, then the rest of Night Raid. She learned to fight alongside them, and adopted their way of thinking, molding her into the assassin she became.

The sound of grass crunching under someone's feet slowly approached Skyrah from behind, but she could already tell who's footsteps they were.

"...Sky?"

Skyrah stood up and turned around, falling into Akame's arms, tightly embracing her. Akame had noticed the tears that had been pouring down Skyrah's face, and quickly grew worried that something had happened.

"What's wro-"

"I love you, Akame." Skyrah blurted out, her tears soaking through Akame's nightshirt and touching the skin of her shoulder. "I love you so much."

Akame tightened her hold on Skyrah even more, feeling the heat radiating from the girl's body.

"Thank you for finding me that day." She cried. "Thank you for not letting Esdeath find me."

Akame felt a tear run down her own face as they stood there under the night sky, the stars like millions of fireflies dotting the dark expanse above them. The light from those stars seemed to fall directly onto them at that moment, creating a delicate feeling of serenity and bliss.

Akame knew it was time. Time to throw away her fear and do what needed to be done.

A small click behind her head and the cool feeling of metal around her neck made Skyrah pull back for a moment, only to stop to stare into Akame's tear-filled and nervous glowing eyes.

Skyrah followed Akame's gaze down and saw something sparkling around her neck, it was a shimmering silver chain with a silver and gold diamond ring hanging as the pendant. Skyrah's heart nearly stopped. She noticed the engraving on the inside of the ring. Loputon Rakkaus.

"Loputon Rakkaus." Akame struggled to pronounce the Finnish word. "Endless Love."

Skyrah's heart skipped a beat again. This was the last thing she expected to receive on this day.

"Skyrah…" Akame began with a whisper. "Once this is over, everything is done and there are no more enemies for us to fight… I'm going to put that on your finger, and we're going to find a place to settle down."

Skyrah noticed the matching ring and chain around Akame's neck, and she felt an overwhelming joy hit her all at once.

"I can't think of anyone else I want to spend the rest of my life with, to start a family with…" Akame continued slowly, the words leaving her mouth as smooth as silk. "So promise me… please… just don't leave me alone."

Akame was quickly pulled into a powerful kiss that made her eyes widen enough to see the two shooting stars launch across the night sky. She then fell into the kiss, holding Skyrah tightly.

"I promise." Skyrah murmured through the kiss, making Akame smile. The two had shared so much since they had been together, and this was still just the beginning.

Minutes later, Skyrah doused the flames, making the ashes and steam float upwards and wisp away with the wind. As she held Akame's hand to go inside, a sudden chill ran down her spine. Not from the wind, but from something different.

Skyrah shivered, picking up the pace and getting back into the barn, hoping the warmth inside would ward away the bad feeling.

 **/**

"It's perfect." The man in the white lab coat said, the green glow of the chamber in front of him reflected onto his sweaty face. "She's… alive!" He pulled back his long white hair from his face and widened his eyes.

"This will be fun." Khan said, staring into the same chamber, where inside was a girl laying on the ground, heaving for air after she pulled off the breathing device that had been around her face. Her nude body slowly stood, and she pulled back her wet, stark white hair, still dripping with the green liquid that she had been in for the past day.

"Who am I?" Her voice was void of all emotion, but easily recognizable. This machine was incredible.

"It looks just like her…" Esdeath said in awe. "My daughter…"

Yuki Skyrah Nashi looked up, her red eyes glowing in the soft green light. "Mother…" She said, looking down at her body, her skin pale and wet, but everything felt overwhelmingly strong. "Hello, mother." Her voice remained a single tone, with no emotion behind it.

Esdeath grinned maniacally. "All it took was a little blood, and I have the perfect version of her."

Khan nodded. "Your tech is impressive, Dr. Raios." He said, stretching his arms above his head.

The doctor shrugged, shaking his head. "It was nothing." He said with a confident smile.

"Far from it." Khan's voice became dark. "That's all I needed." He said, swinging both of his arms down and breaking the doctor's neck in one motion. He and Esdeath stood over him as he fell, each of them smiling as he died silently. "It seems the doctor had some error, she has white hair."

"That's no error, Khan." Esdeath assured him. "Skyrah dyes her hair brown, it turned white over a year ago when she awoke her Teigu."

Khan nodded. "Odd, My father never spoke of the Teigu doing that."

Esdeath smirked. "No one knows what Loputon Voima is capable of yet, it's true potential is far from unlocked, even by Skyrah, who thought she had mastered it before Ava killed her." She turned to him. "The Danger Beast that it came from had unlimited potential, hence the name 'Endless Power'."

"With her though… We can tap into that power, it will be even easier with the boost the revival machine gave her." Esdeath turned back and spat on the dying old man, then smiled at her new daughter. "Come, Yuki, we have a lot of work to do, I've got some people you'll want to meet."

Yuki nodded slowly, following Esdeath as she was told.

"You have only one objective, my beautiful daughter." Esdeath began, looking over her shoulder as she walked. "Kill Akame."

Yuki was suddenly assaulted with bad memories of a girl with black hair and red eyes, she remembered fighting with her and screaming at her in anger. It made her angry just imagining the face.

"Kill Akame." She repeated what Esdeath had said. "Yes."


	39. Chapter 39: Kill the Instinct

**Chapter 39**

 **Kill The Instinct**

 ** _3 Weeks Later…_**

Sleeping soundly at his post was a young man named Duncan, he had been assigned to keep watch at the front gate of the royal castle for the past week, and not even as much as a rat had disturbed him. For what his superiors had called "The most important position." It had been pretty uneventful. He had chalked it up to just being a lie told to him so he would do it. This night, however, he would fall asleep sitting inside of his booth, even if someone were to try and attack him, the glass surrounding him was bulletproof, no one would be getting to him.

While the soldier slept, someone had been watching from across the street, crimson eyes scanned him and his weapon, a small automatic rifle much like those in Japan. Those same red eyes snapped onto what lay beyond the man in his booth, the castle which held all of the royalty in England, along with countless amounts of other armed guards.

A knock at the glass made the guard jolt awake, in front of him was a scared young girl, about his age. She looked behind her cautiously, like she was being followed and needed help. Her hazel eyes were wide and her breathing was erratic. Her brown hair had been made a mess, presumably from running away from whatever was after her.

Duncan quickly stood up, pulling the keys from around his waist and walking to the back of the booth, gesturing for her to come around and meet him at the only entrance. The girl quickly looked behind her again, then came around just as he opened the door. She rushed in, ducking under his desk as to not be seen from the outside as he locked himself in with her.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asked, grabbing his weapon and looking around outside of the glass booth, seeing no one in the street or alleyways.

"I am… now…" She gasped for air, looking at him with a nervous smile. "Is he gone?"

Duncan nodded, exhaling heavily and trying to calm himself down. "Looks like whoever it was is gone now, are you hurt?" He asked, leaning down and setting his weapon on top of the desk. "Who was following you?"

The girl laughed still trying to catch her breath, she was clearly a nervous wreck. "An old boyfriend of mine, he had a big knife and was threatening to kill me." She explained. "Thank you for helping me."

Duncan smiled, moving some of her hair out of her face. "Of course, it's my job." He shared a laugh with her, trying to make her feel even a little bit better. "My name is Duncan, what's yours?"

"Seryu." She said with a big smile.

"Japanese?" Duncan said, standing up and helping her up. "You're a long way from home."

Seryu pressed her chest against him, wrapping her arms around his lower torso and looking up into his face. "I guess you could say that…" She whispered, pulling away for a moment, looking at his desk. "This looks pretty difficult to manage." She said, eyeing the controls to open the gate.

"Oh it's not too bad." Duncan bragged, putting on a cocky smile for the gorgeous girl. He pulled up his chair and another for her, patting the seat. "Have a seat, I'll show you how it works."

Seryu bit her nail and smiled in a way that nearly made Duncan's heart skip a beat. "I'll sit here." She said as she sat down on his lap. Her smaller size was easy for him to hold up, and his smile grew even more.

As he began explaining to her, she did her best to sound interested in what he was saying, but she honestly could care less, he was just an obstacle that needed to be removed, even if he was kind of cute. Her eyes were drawn to a man dressed in all black that was slipping through the bars of the gate, his green hair hanging out from the front of his hood. He had gone through completely unnoticed thanks to her.

A sudden shatter of glass outside made Duncan jump in surprise. It had clearly been from Lubbock, who now threatened to blow their cover before the mission even really started.

Seryu acted quickly, right as Duncan was trying to get up, she swung her leg over him, straddling him and looking into his surprised face. He immediately forgot about the glass and directed his full attention to the girl in front of him. She leaned in and kissed him roughly, pulling off her jacket to distract him. She pulled his handcuffs off of his waist, not letting him notice as his hands felt her up. The first chance she got, she slapped the cuffs onto one of his wrists and smashed her fist into his temple, knocking him out cold.

After cuffing him to the door and breaking apart his weapon, she began smashing the controls, eventually breaking something that opened the gate, while simultaneously turning on huge flood lights.

One by one the lights went out as Lubbock sent tiny string needles into them, cursing Yuki under his breath for turning them on in the first place.

"Lubbock, you idiot! You almost got us caught!" Seryu shout-whispered as she came up behind him.

"It's not my fault _his majesty_ made a glass sculpture right in the way!" Lubbock said back in frustration. "You aren't any better with the lights!"

"Both of you shut up." Bulat came up behind both of them, pushing them apart. "We have work to do, get to your positions." His deep voice rattled both of them, making them quiet down.

The newest member of their team followed right behind him. Skyrah's body, but a mind much different, was going to be their secret weapon for this mission.

"You know what to do when you get inside don't you?" Bulat questioned as they hastily made their way up the stairs, which led to two grand doors, used to enter and exit the castle.

"Yes." Yuki replied automatically. "Out of my way."

Just as Bulat reached the top of the steps and moved to the left, Yuki sped past him, crashing through the doors and into a group of armed guards. Yuki pulled two rifles away from two separate soldiers and pulled both triggers, twirling around and releasing a hail of bullets that sliced through anything in the way. Blood and innards splashed against the walls and floors as their bodies were chewed apart by their own weapons.

Yuki dropped the rifles when they were out of ammunition, grabbing one of the remaining guards and throwing him through another door and into a room with a large oval table in the center of it. She dove through the open door and grabbed another unsuspecting guard by the back of his neck, bringing her knee up so quickly into his face that he was decapitated from the force of the attack. Yuki stopped for just a moment after killing him, listening to her surroundings.

Down the hallway another group of four or five guards was rushing towards her, all armed with their respective weapons. Past them was a staircase leading upwards, which even more guards were coming down.

With a quick kick, Yuki pressed onwards through the hallway, raising another weapon from a previous guard and mowing another couple down with the weapon before throwing it aside, her arms turning into a pitch black matte metal. She ran through more and more gunfire, feeling bullets passing through her body on multiple occasions, and loving the rushes of pain through her body. She tore apart guard after guard to clear the way, painting the once white and gold hallways with the innards of those who were supposed to protect it. Hundreds of bullet holes riddled the walls, cracking the granite and other decorations.

The body of one man had been thrown upwards and jammed down onto a chandelier, impaling his body in multiple places and causing his blood to rain from the ceiling. Yuki herself was almost covered head to toe in the blood of her enemies, the taste of copper was in her mouth and dried blood was caked into her hair in some places.

Yuki finally broke into the last room, where a terrified man was standing in front of his wife and daughter in a pathetic attempt to protect them from the overwhelmingly powerful person. In his shaking hand was a double barreled pistol that looked like it had never even been fired before.

"King August." Yuki began in a dark voice.

"Get away from my family!" He shouted, firing off both bullets and missing Yuki's head by a few centimeters.

With a sigh, she rushed towards him, kicking him aside and grabbing his wife by the throat. The Princess came rushing at Yuki with a decorative knife, which was simply grabbed with a metal hand. When the Princess tried to pull away from Yuki, the Black Council member forcefully pushed her back onto the large bed, making her yelp in surprise at Yuki's strength.

"Leave them alone!" King August came running for his Queen, but Yuki kicked him in the front of his kneecap, grounding him for the time being.

Slow applause suddenly came from the opened bedroom door. Esdeath, followed closely by Bulat, came walking through with a big smile on her face. "King August, it's so nice to see you again."

"General… Esdeath…?!" The King was shocked that such a woman had come into the room. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Esdeath frowned. "That's not very polite, is it?" She asked him, leaning down and glaring at him with her cold, evil eyes. "I'm looking for some friends, and I need your help to find them."

"W…What?" King August was shaking, he looked up to his wife, who Yuki was still holding in place, but no longer choking. "I'll find them, just don't hurt my family."

Esdeath gave a big grin when she heard that. "You have loudspeakers all around the city, give me access to them." She demanded.

King August had no choice but to do what she said. He led her down a few floors, nearly throwing up a few times as he saw the carnage Yuki had caused. Eventually they reached a radio control room, where monitors showed different angles of the city. A large radio system sat in the middle of it all, allowing the King to speak to the people whenever he wanted. This time however, the message was going to be different.

Citizens that had been rudely awakened by the gunfire in the castle were wandering out of their homes and into the streets, trying to see exactly what was going on. The gunfire had stopped, but a feeling of dread hung over the city.

An electronic crackle of noise suddenly broke the city-wide silence as the announcement speakers sparked to life.

"Attention, people of the city." An unfamiliar, female voice began. "My name is General Esdeath from an organization called Black Council, me and my council have broken the 'impenetrable' defenses of the castle and taken the Royal Family hostage." She explained, causing fear to sweep across those who were listening.

King August was pushed towards the microphone. In a forced and scared voice, he spoke. "Hello everyone, this is King August speaking. I want everyone to understand there is no reason to panic, they have a very simple request and will not harm us if they get what they want." He said slowly and carefully. "There is a group of people that have come here recently named Night Raid, likely a few more than five of them, if anyone knows anything about them, I implore you to come straight to the castle and tell us, the sooner we find them is the sooner Black Council can leave peacefully."

"I wouldn't be so sure, old man." Esdeath was on the speakers again. "Bulat, please show them what happens when we don't get what we want!" She shouted through the city, eventually reaching his ears.

Two separate spotlights on tops of buildings, used by Seryu and Lubbock, were directed to the top of the castle, where a body was suddenly hurled through a window. The screams of the Queen as she fell made the entire city implode with fear and horror. The sound of her body slamming into the pavement echoed through the entire city, all around there were cries and screams from men, women, and children alike. They had just been played into watching their Queen die a horrible death.

Yuki stood at the side of the window, looking down over the city. She was doing what she was told until she reached Akame, then she was going to be free to do what she wanted to her.

The Princess, curled up in a corner in the room behind Yuki and Bulat, didn't dare make a move. Her mother had just been launched out of the window by that man, and she feared she would be next.

"Someone… please save me…" She whimpered.

Yuki shuddered when she heard that voice. It made something switch on inside of her brain, but whatever it had been was gone now.

"Strange…" Yuki thought, closing her eyes for a moment and backing away from the window.


End file.
